


Die for Me, Please

by Daktasinsanity



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anal Sex, EreRi Big Bang 2017, Ereri Big Bang, M/M, Mafia AU, Minor Character Death, Sex, Undercover, Violence, ebb2k17
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 22:12:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13257666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daktasinsanity/pseuds/Daktasinsanity
Summary: Detective Nile Dok has a mission for a young punk kid, sixteen year old Eren. He wants Eren to infiltrate one of the city’s biggest and meanest mafias. His mission is to get as close as possible to the mafia leader, Levi Ackerman, at any cost. Eren is supposed to rat out information for Nile. As compensation for his important work Nile promises Eren that he will have enough money to take care of his sick sister. Eren seeing a chance to save his sister and nothing else to do, takes the job.





	1. Love at first sight

 

The fast approaching night had the city in its darkening hold. Sun had set an hour ago. The warmth of the last rays still lingered in the air but soon the cool night air would settle in.

 

A group of men walked out of a building. Two of them being nothing more than bodyguards. Their jobs simple: keep their boss alive. Their names being Auruo Bozado and Gunther Schultz.

 

With them was their boss of course. He was well known in the whole city. He didn’t need an introduction wherever he went nor did his lackeys. All family members only needed to mention they were part of the Ackerman family and respect was given. They had earned it through hard work but not in a way that some people liked. The people on the right side of the law did not appreciate them as much as the underworld did.

 

With the boss was yet another man. His name was Eld Jinn. He was a personal adviser to the boss. His word held power but it did not dictate what their boss was going to do. His advice was truly appreciated though. All of them were wearing expensive suits. There wasn’t any specs of dust to be seen on their garments. The suits fit them like gloves, making them look intimidating and powerful. Their choice of garment spoke of money that others could only dream of in this part of the city.

 

Auruo held the car door open but his boss paused when he heard some noises coming from the nearby alley. At the alley was a bunch of youngsters having a row which had escalated into a fist fight.

 

“Boss?” Auruo asked when his boss did not enter the car but stared to the side watching the fight. Auruo scoffed not looking over what was going on. “Just some rowdy kids, Boss. They have nothing better to do than fight amongst themselves.”

 

“You were once like that too. Don’t forget that,” the boss reprimanded Auruo, not looking away from the fight.

 

Auruo looked down sheepishly. “Of course not. Sorry, Boss.”

 

The boss known as Levi Ackerman kept his eyes on one specific young man who had caught his eye the moment Levi saw him. A boy with longish brown hair and a lot of energy, fighting fearlessly against superior numbers and still standing his ground somehow. Levi saw a lot of recklessness in some of his moves, clearly untrained, but the young man made up for it with the never ending energy he seemed to possess.

 

Levi was reminded of the days when he was young and looking for fights. He had felt he had a lot to prove given that he was next in line for the succession. Nothing had been enough so he went ahead and recklessly endangered his life, thinking that he’d be someone if he won.

 

His youth was not something he was proud of but it had taught him some valuable lessons that he wouldn’t have learnt otherwise. Just like the young man fighting with a bloody nose and bruised body right now was. He would be in pain for the next few days.

 

The fight seemed to come to its end, the young man victorious but not without a price. Then the youth noticed the men standing by the sidewalk. For a brief moment he locked eyes with Levi.

 

The boy’s wild appearance did something for Levi that very few managed to do. It made his heart pound faster. He had fallen in love at first sight.

 

Levi entered the car. His heart still beating faster than normal. That boy was something he wanted.

 

And he was determined to get him one way or the other.

 

* * *

 

 

Eren spit on the ground.

 

Blood.

 

He wiped the side of his mouth with the back of his hand and it got stained with it too. These bastards had thought they could take him on and win.

 

Eren raised his gaze to see some men staring at his way. He glanced the the obviously rich guy from head to toe before looking back up to his face. He had to be one of the mafia folk. Eren wasn’t interested in whom they were. He had heard enough about the mafia in the city though. He knew not to cross them.

 

He watched the men drive away before he started walking towards the street that the men had been on.

 

“Oi, Eren!”

 

The young man turned to see a detective named Nile Dok waving at him from an open car window. Eren hated the man. He gave him the creeps with his crooked smile. Nile seemed too smug for his own good, too sure of himself.

 

“Come here for a minute,” Nile called out to him.

 

Eren glanced back at the alley, seeing some of the guys getting up already. He saw it better to be seen with Nile right now if any of those shitheads decided to take revenge after the beating they got.

 

“Hello, Mr. Dok,” he said to Nile who smiled at him showing the whole row of white teeth. Too white.

 

“I got a job for you,” Nile said. “If you are in need of money.”

 

Eren was tempted. “How much?”

 

This time there was something in Nile’s smile that Eren couldn’t quite place. “How about you get in and I’ll tell you while I drive you home?” Nile sounded smug as if knowing that Eren would answer yes anyway.

 

“Hey!” one of the goons shouted from the alley. Eren didn’t need to think twice. “Okay,” he said and walked around the car to hop into the passenger seat.

 

Nile drove a car that was neither too old nor too new. The vibe Eren got from it was that Nile was trying to be modest while having a fancy enough car to impress the ladies.

 

“How’s school?” Nile asked once Eren was buckled up and they were on the road.

 

“Not going,” was Eren’s blunt answer. “I got enough of those idiots trying to pick a fight with me.”

 

Nile pointed his thumb towards the alley Eren had just left. “Didn’t look like it worked out for you.”

 

Eren gave Nile a glare. “They keep coming even if I beat their asses most of the times.” Eren was tired of the guys chasing after him.

 

Nile raised an eyebrow at him. “Most of the times? Sounds rough.”

 

“It is.” Eren sighed and leaned to rest his head against the car window.

 

The detective hummed making a turn. “So you interested in some work since you are not going to school anymore?” Nile finally cut the chase.

 

“What kind of work?”

 

“I’m glad you asked.” Nile smirked, digging into his pocket for a pack of smokes. “I think you are perfect for this one.” He shook the package to get a cigarette out. “I need someone to infiltrate the Ackermans. I need intel on their leader, where they are doing business and with whom. I want to cut down the mafia and weed them out of this city.”

 

“So what you want me to do?” Eren wasn’t sure he liked the sound of this. The idea of getting rid of the mafia was righteous. Eren couldn’t see it happening though.

 

Nile’s tone got serious, “I want you to get into their inner circle and as close as you can to their leader.”

 

That didn’t sound exactly safe in Eren’s opinion. “And what do I get for it?”

 

“Five hundred thousand.”

 

Eren’s eyes grew wide. “What?”

 

“You heard me.” Nile glanced at him from the corner of his eye. “That would pay for Mikasa’s hospital bills, wouldn’t it?”

 

“And then some,” Eren added in disbelief. “Where do you get that kind of money?”

 

Nile laughed. “Oh dear boy, when we catch those bastards there will be enough to pay your share off. Don’t worry your head about it. You’ll get your share if you succeed.”

 

Eren mused the idea in his head. “And if I don’t?”

 

Nile shrugged. “If you get caught you know what they’ll do to you.”

 

Eren gulped. He was good as dead if he got caught. “How am I supposed to get in? I can’t just walk in and say that I want to join.”

 

Nile chuckled, waving his hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about that. I have the perfect opportunity for you to get inside their merry folk.”

 

Eren didn’t like the sound of that but the pay was good. When he’d get the money he could easily pay for Mikasa’s treatment and any bills he’d have for years to come. He wouldn’t have to worry about their dad sending money anymore.

 

Mikasa had been in the hospital for two years now. First there had been money to pay for all of it. She was well taken care of but then their father disappeared and the money stopped coming. Her bills had been paid with money made from anything Eren could sell from their home and eventually from stolen goods. Eren wasn’t proud of what he had done but he had done it for Mikasa.

 

And now he was going to do even more for her because the money he’d make would finally safe her life.


	2. The Ackermans

Eren yanked at the restraints around his wrists. They were on tight and not coming undone any time soon. He was also tied to a sturdy pole. He had been forced on his knees, a few deliberate kicks had done the trick. His legs hurt. Eren doubted he had much of chance to run away anyway even if he tried. He had been attacked by two suspicious looking fellows and they had dragged him into some random warehouse.

 

This wasn’t exactly what he had thought Nile had in mind when he said to him that he would get acquainted with the mafia.

 

This was the wrong bunch too! These guys were not the Ackermans, not even close.

 

Eren wasn’t sure how he was going to get in contact with the right mafia this way.

 

Luckily for him he was just about to find out how to do exactly that!

 

“You little bitch. You better start talking or you end up dead in the ditch.”

 

The threat did not sound very threatening but Eren still believed them. “I have no idea what you are talking about.” He was telling them the truth.

 

“You took the drugs. Don’t play dumb and tell us you don’t know. We know for certain that you stole it from the Ackermans. We want it. What a punk like you could do with the drugs anyway? There is no way for you to sell it without setting off the alarms and have Ackermans hounding your ass to the grave. Take my word for it, you’ll be dead when they find you.”

 

_When, not if,_ Eren thought. Damn Nile for setting him up. “I don’t know anything about those drugs.”

 

“What did I just tell you?!” the thug got angry and waved a gun at Eren’s face. He grabbed hold of Eren’s hair, tugging on it painfully to emphasize his point.

 

“I’m telling the truth,” Eren insisted.

 

“Stop lying. You will talk when we start chopping off your fingers!”

 

Eren didn’t like the sound of that. Not one bit. But he was not going to plead for it, not yet anyways. These guys didn’t look as dangerous as they wanted to seem. The gun they had wasn’t even pointed at him at most times.

 

The other thug, who had been mostly silent by this point, pulled out a knife. He pressed it against Eren’s cheek, drawing blood. It hurt as hell and Eren let out a scream of pain. “Now little boy,” the thug sneered. “Tell us where you hid the drugs or your pretty face will have more intimate relations with my beloved knife.”

 

“I don’t know!” Eren shouted. Getting scared was understatement right now. He was downright terrified of this man sneering at him.

 

“You lil’ bitch!” the man screamed at him and raised the knife poised to strike.

 

The next thing Eren heard was a gunshot. He felt something splatter on his face. His ears rang. The man who had the knife had barely hit the ground when a second shot was fired and the man with the gun fell to the ground as well.

 

The silence was deafening. Eren waited when the third shot would come. Surely they meant to kill him too.

 

But the shot didn’t come.

 

He heard footsteps. That was when he realised he had closed his eyes. He opened them to see five men walking up to him. He recognized them as the Ackermans because there was no doubt that the man in the middle of the other four was Levi Ackerman himself. He was short of hard to miss among the taller men. Eren didn’t let the man’s short stature fool him into thinking that the man was any less dangerous. Levi held himself high. He looked even more intimidating than the rest of his gang.

 

Eren swallowed nervously when the men reached him. They had their guns out, ready to shoot him if needed be. He wasn’t feeling so sure of himself anymore.

 

“Are you the one who took what belongs to us?”

 

Eren was surprised to see Levi Ackerman himself questioning him. He stammered out, “No-no.”

 

“Boss, he is lying,” a man on Levi’s right said.

 

“I’m not,” Eren insisted although he knew it didn’t help him much if these men chose not to believe him.

 

“The thing is,” Levi started, then he squatted in front of Eren to make the young man look him in the eye. “Someone stole something of mine and I want a compensation for it. I don’t care who gives it to me as long as I get it.”

 

Eren gulped. He was going to die, wasn’t he? If that was the case then he would not beg for his life. He’d go down holding his head high but shaking the fear of death wasn’t so easy.

 

“What’s your name, kid,” Levi asked, tilting his head to the side.

 

His answer came steadier this time, “Eren.”

 

“Any surname to go with that?”

 

“Jaeger.”

 

When Eren said that, Levi glanced at one of his men as if silently relaying an unspoken message.

 

“So Eren, how are you planning on paying me back for the money I’ve lost? Do you even know how much you owe? It isn’t a sum that you would get back with a regular salary.”

 

Eren didn’t know what to say to that. He hesitated for a moment. “But I did not steal the drugs.”

 

“That doesn’t matter. I told you, I want compensation. It is very unlikely we find out any time soon who took it.” Levi straightened himself back up. He ordered his men, “Throw him in the trunk with the bodies. He comes with us.”

 

_What? Bodies?_ Eren watched as in the next several minutes the men bagged the unknown dead men and carried them off. Sure to Levi’s word, Eren was hauled into the trunk of a black car with the bodybags. Eren could hardly walk by himself, his legs had gone dead a long time ago.

 

These guys were not fucking around. Eren couldn’t get comfortable inside the trunk, knowing he was lying there with dead gangsters. The car drive took a while. It was hard to tell time when he was afraid of what was to come.

 

They stopped.

 

Eren waited, hearing only his own breathing for a while.

 

The trunk was popped open. Eren was hauled outside the car. Eren didn’t recognize the place but he knew the river that was just a ten meters away from the car.

 

“Get him washed,” Levi ordered.

 

Eren yelped when he was shoved into the cold water. Everything else was a blur for a moment after. He was sure he was going to drown but then he was back on shore. He was gasping for breath. His clothes heavy and cold against his skin.

 

“You have a choice, Eren,” Levi’s voice cut through the coldness like a knife. “Either you join those fellows in becoming fish food or you can join me and work your debt off.”

 

“But I did not--”

 

Levi’s stepped forward and grabbed his hair around the back of his neck, snapping Eren’s head painfully backwards. “And you think I will take your word for it? You are nothing but full of shit. I would lose nothing by shoving you back into the river myself. But I’m giving you an option, a choice. You are free to consider it.”

 

Eren coughed up some water and Levi let him loose.

 

On the background the body bags were dragged to the shore. Eren glanced at them. A boat was being readied, weights being attached to the bags.

 

Eren didn’t want to be an attachment to one of those weights. “I’ll follow you,” he told Levi as he wiped the side of his mouth clean. “I’ll join.”

 

“Good. Now get back in the trunk.”

 

“What?”

 

“You are not getting inside the car wet as a dog.”

 

Eren stared at the infamous mafia boss who walked back to the car while his men on the boat dumped the bodies into the lake.

 

* * *

 

 

Eren had no idea where they were. The car had stopped a moment ago but no one came to open the trunk as fast as last time. He heard them talking but not what was said.

 

“Where do you live, boy?” Eren was asked by one of the goons when the trunk was popped open suddenly.

 

“Huh?” Eren asked as he was not assisted out this time. Eren laid there confounded.

 

The man clicked his tongue in irritation. “Address!” The man did not offer any more explanation.

 

“Ah, the Long Road 35 at the Shore,” Eren answered.

 

The man nodded and shut the trunk, not letting Eren out. Well, apparently Eren was going home for some reason. The car took off again and this time it took about the same amount of time to reach his home than what it took to drive from the city center. So Eren made a conclusion that they probably had just been in the city.

 

The next time the trunk opened, he saw the familiar neighbourhood and his home. His home was at the seashore. “What are we doing here?” Eren dared to ask.

 

“To get your stuff,” the goon answered.

 

“Eh?” Eren didn’t quite understand what that meant. What stuff was he supposed to get?

 

The goon sighed as if Eren was being stupid. “Boss wants you to come live with us. He doesn’t trust you to live at your own home. He wants to keep his tabs on you without using too many resources.”

 

Eren couldn’t just leave! “But what about--”

 

“No buts!” the man hissed. “Go in, get whatever you need and we are on our way. Boss doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

 

Eren glared at the man but did as he was told. He marched to the front door. Luckily he had not dropped his keys into the lake. His phone was ruined though. He cringed as he took it out of his pocket and saw the damage. The screen was cracked, more like crushed. Probably from a kick or two that he had received. The water had not helped either. There was not much hope it would ever work again. Eren sighed as he put it back into his pocket.

 

“Hurry up!” the goon shouted at Eren, thinking he was stalling.

 

It took Eren about ten minutes to decide what to pack and get his things. He looked over the room that was his. He wasn’t sure when he would see it again. Not that he had much there anyway. He hadn’t spend time at home anyway. The room was impersonal. There was not really anything in the room that would spell out that it was Eren’s. It seemed like it had come out of a catalogue. Too clean to be called a teenagers room. Eren wondered if his father had been in here while he had been too busy fighting some losers in the streets. And now he was affiliated with a mafia.

 

He was over his head, wasn’t he? How was he supposed to go on from here? Work for the mafia? What did that even mean?

 

Banging on the door brought Eren out of these thoughts. “Coming!” he yelled as he took his bags and left his home behind.

 

* * *

 

 

Eren felt out of place standing in a room with Levi and his goons. He tried not to show how nervous he was but the way the men kept looking at him, he wasn’t sure he was managing so great.

 

“Alright, kid,” the goon, who had taken him to get his stuff, prompted him forward by pulling on his arm. “The boss wants to have a word with you.”

 

Eren was pushed in front of a desk that Levi sat behind. There was nothing on the desk and it was so polished that Eren could see Levi’s reflection on the surface. What did he even use the desk for anyway?

 

Levi was leaning back, looking relaxed while drumming his fingers against the desk surface. “Eren, you are not officially part of this family,” Levi said sternly. His eyes told nothing of what he was thinking.

 

Eren gulped audibly.  _Is he going to tell me now that I’m going to die anyway?_

 

Then Levi continued talking, “I’ve someone who will take you under their wing. He will tell you all you need to know.”

 

Eren nodded. What else was he supposed to do? Levi had made it clear that he was not exactly in a position to demand anything.

 

“Did you understand? I didn’t quite hear you say so,” Levi inquired, crossing his fingers and waiting for Eren’s reply.

 

Eren straightened up. “Yes, sir. I understood, sir.”

 

“Good.” Levi’s tone softened a little bit. “Jean!” he exclaimed, looking past Eren.

 

“Yes, boss?” a guy with a two-toned hair stepped up from the back of the room.

 

Levi looked at Jean as he spoke, “Show Eren where he is staying and then he is all yours to train properly.”

 

“Of course,” Jean answered and motioned Eren to follow him.

 

Eren did so without hesitation. He hoped Jean would be more up to answering questions than his boss. Eren didn’t want to go through a near drowning experience again. He didn’t want to take any chances at upsetting Levi. After all, Levi was his target. Right now, Eren had no idea how to even approach the man, no less, make him talk to him and get to know him. Trust was hard to earn and that was Eren’s first goal. Nile hadn’t said how long he had but Eren was sure he would ruin it all if he tried to rush things.

 

“So…” Eren started awkwardly. “You have been working for the Ackermans long?”

 

Jean threw him a look of disgust. “What are you? A reporter?”

 

Eren shook his head. “No, I’m just curious.” He tried to sound sincere but he felt nervous. What if Jean figured it out that he was here for taking down their boss just because he said stupid things like that? Eren decided to be more careful.

 

Jean scoffed as he lead Eren through different hallways and doors. Eren was sure he would get lost in a minute when he was alone. Jean shook his head and said, “Why don’t you tell me first why and how you got here?”

 

Eren hesitated with what he should say. “Errmm.. your boss thinks I stole some drugs.”

 

“Hah!” Jean mockingly exclaimed. “You are gonna be here for the rest of your life, pal,” Jean offered with a cheeky smile. “Boss takes money seriously.”

 

That didn’t sound promising at all. “But I didn’t steal it,” Eren still insisted knowing that it didn’t do him any good though.

 

Jean shook his head as if he was disappointed in Eren. “Doesn’t matter if Boss says you owe him, you owe him, dude. I wouldn’t go trying to change his mind.”

 

Eren sighed. He wasn’t in this for the long term so he eventually he had to figure out how to convince Levi that he had not stolen any drugs.

 

But that could wait.

 

“Boss said to give you this room,” Jean said as he opened a door to a rather small room. There was nothing else in there than a bed and a small nightstand. “If you want anything you are free to buy it,” Jean told Eren. “But I guess you don’t exactly have the money?”

 

Eren rolled his eyes at the jab. “Yeah yeah, I’m my ankles deep in debt now.” Eren looked around the room. It wasn’t exactly terrible. It felt cozy the longer he was there. His luggage had been brought in earlier, by whom that Eren didn’t know but all of it seemed to be there.

 

Jean said, “You can unpack now if you want. We start the rounds tomorrow morning.”

 

“The rounds?” Eren asked curious to what it meant.

 

“Yeah. You’ll see,” Jean said with a wave of his hand. “Get some sleep.”

 

Eren nodded. “Okay, thanks.”


	3. Jean Kirstein

The next day Eren followed Jean around all day. It wasn’t as unproductive as Eren would have thought. Jean let him in on some basic stuff like, “This ain’t like the streets. You don’t go picking fights just because you’re mad. Boss decides if we are going to fight someone or not. Of course if you gotta defend yourself, then you do but don’t go making it worse. Some of the worst fights ever have started from a minor disagreement and our boss wants to avoid that.”

 

Eren could understand that. Although he didn’t know what he was going to do if he ran into his old ‘friends’. The bullies who thought they could anyone they chose around. They had picked on Eren just because Eren was alone. Eren didn’t have the safety of parents like the other kids did. His father was rarely at home if ever.

 

Jean had a car. A car Eren didn’t think was that great. An old beat Nissan that felt like it would fall apart any moment. “You know, this piece of crap is not gonna last long if you drive like that,” Eren commented when Jean hit a speed bump a bit too fast.

 

“Shut the fuck up. Don’t insult my beautiful Bessie. She has gotten me through some hard times,man,” Jean hissed offended that Eren could even say such things about his beloved car.

 

“Oh, okay,” Eren replied not really caring about some hard times Jean had faced when they were going to have hard time getting back to the headquarters if this thing broke down.  _And who the fuck named their car Bessie?_ Eren didn’t dwell on it and asked, “Where are we going anyway?”

 

“To see someone who hasn’t paid their debt.”

 

_Gonna be fun,_ Eren thought with a grimace. As if he didn’t have experience on in already. His bullies had stuck their eyes on him the moment he loaned a small sum of money and had struggled to pay it back as fast as he could. They had given him a week and he went over just by a day. The bullies never forgot and kept claiming he had not paid the interest. Eren of course had argued that there couldn’t be much of an interest if it loan was only for a week and he had paid it back as soon as he had the money which wasn’t that long after the deadline.

 

Thinking of those assholes still made Eren’s blood boil.

 

Jean parked the car and they got out. “Let me handle this,” Jean told him when he knocked on the door of a house that looked like no one would live in. Eren already had the creeps just by standing there outside of it.

 

They heard stomping sounds coming from inside. “What?!” a young girl exclaimed angrily when she opened the door.

 

Eren thought she looked like she was twelve or maybe thirteen. She was pale and had no muscle to speak of on her body. She looked rather sickly. Her hair was matted and dirty. She had bags under her eyes which had a dead look in them.

 

Jean scoffed seeing her angry. “You know why we are here,” Jean simply told her.

 

The girl crossed her frail arms. “Yeah yeah. Look, money has been tight..” she started explaining.

 

Jean pushed past her into the house. “Yeah yeah,” he mimicked her not caring what she was going to say. “But you still have to pay.” Jean looked around as if he could find something of value somewhere.

 

Eren followed after him cautiously. He had bad vibes from the place. It looked rotten on the inside too.

 

“But Jean, you know I could pay up with something else than money,” the girl said, sashaying her hips as she walked back into the house after closing the door behind them. “Who is this?” she asked looking at Eren. “I bet you would love to have some good time, no?” she asked seductively, looking at Eren.

 

Se didn’t exactly look sexy. “Umm..” Eren started but Jean interrupted him.

 

“Okay okay, honey, you think we are that stupid?!” Jean started sounding sweet but ended with malice in his voice.

 

“Give me more time!” the girl cried out knowing no matter what she said she was screwed. She had tears in her eyes.

 

Jean didn’t bat an eye at her tears. “You have been given time! Now cough up the money!”

 

“I don’t have it!”

 

“Then get some!” Jean shouted. “We are coming back tomorrow and I swear to god if you don’t have it ready I’ll slice you up like a fish.”

 

The girl continued crying.

 

“Let’s go,” Jean told Eren, pulling Eren with him.

 

“Are you even competent?” Eren asked as they got out of the house. He was happy to be outside of it. He felt like he might have gotten a disease just from breathing in the air inside.

 

“Competent? What is this? An ice cream parlour?” Jean was confused and pissed off. “We are in the mafia for fuck’s sake!”

 

“You made her cry! A little girl who--” Eren tried to defend her.

 

“Who keeps lying and stealing things to do drugs! She is not as innocent or young as she seems.” Jean was angry and for a reason. Eren was being an idiot. “You need to open your eyes and fast if you want to stay alive in this business.”

 

Eren’s hackles were raised but he did not reply. He was still shaken by what he had witnessed and thought Jean to be an idiot.

 

Jean tugged Eren along. “Come on, we got more places to be.”

 

“More people to terrify?” Eren dared to ask and received a dark glare from Jean an answer.

 

They reached Jean’s car. “We are getting some supplies next. Petra asked for some things and she knows I’ll get her the right ones,” Jean explained. “Maybe one day she’ll trust you enough to ask you instead.” Jean gave Eren a mocking smile.

 

Eren didn’t know Petra at all. Hadn’t even seen her yet so he couldn’t really say anything to counter Jean’s mockery. He hoped that Petra was super ugly or something so he could mock Jean for liking her later. “Is she hot?” he asked as Jean turned the key in the ignition.

 

Jean smirked. “Yeah, she is but,” Jean’s smirked dropped. “If you are thinking of screwing around with her, the boss will skin you alive. Got it?”

 

Eren had no desire to screw around with anyone. “Is she boss’s girl?”

 

Jean shook his head. “No but she is valuable to the family. You might just think of her as your aunt from now on. She is off limits. There has been a lot of guys who thought that she could be bought or screwed just because she is in the family. She ain’t weak though,” Jean said. “She can knock you off ya feet if you cross her.”

 

“She sounds like a competent mafia member,” Eren said, taking a jab at Jean.

 

“Yeah well, we’ll see if you ever become one or do you end up singing in the choir of the angels,” Jean warned him light-heartedly.

 

Eren didn’t know if Jean was joking or not.

 

* * *

 

 

Eren got used to waking up at nine each morning. Jean would come get him half past nine every morning unless he told Eren otherwise. Eren had only been living in the headquarters for a week. He still didn’t know much about anything or anyone. He saw people but no one told him their names or made small talk.

 

Eren could understand that since he was new no one trusted him.

 

So far Eren had followed Jean around and helped him to collect money. Eren had not seen or heard anything about drugs that Nile was so interested about. Eren could only assume the debt was from drugs but he had no real proof.

 

This morning was no different. Jean drove them around while Eren looked out of the window seeing familiar places going by. It was an odd feeling not to be freely walking the street the way he had been a week ago.

 

“I need you to wait out for this one,” Jean said as soon as they had parked the car. “Go to a nearby cafe or wherever you want but don’t go too far. I’ll be gone maybe an hour or so.”

 

Eren didn’t question why he couldn’t go with Jean. He didn’t want to know why there was a smirk on Jean’s face. Eren chose a nearby coffee shop. He took a chance for a break when he saw one. He pondered how much easier this would have been if he had a phone to play with while waiting. Now he had to entertain him with something else.

 

Eren ordered a vanilla latte and a chocolate chip cookie and took a window table, facing the doorway that Jean had disappeared into. Eren got bored after waiting for about forty minutes. He decided to go outside and wait by the door for Jean.

 

They were not in the city center. Eren knew this place well because he had spent most of his time around the neighbourhood. The cafe was not a one Eren usually hang out in though. He preferred the ones where you could go outside and enjoy a drink out in the terrace.

 

Eren hadn’t reached the building that Jean had gone into when he heard a shout behind him.

 

“Yo, Jaeger!”

 

_Oh shit_ , Eren thought when he turned around and saw familiar faces. The guys he had fought with a week ago were here. It was obvious that the guys were looking for a revenge. The way they walked towards him spoke of violent intent that Eren knew very well.

 

Eren bolted. He had no idea where he would go but he needed to get out of here and fast. He didn’t want to end up bruised again.

 

He didn’t get far when he saw the door open and Jean walked out.

 

“What the fuck, “Jean said when he saw Eren running past him. “Wait up,” he said to Eren that stopped Eren. Jean stepped between Eren and the guys.

 

The guys who had been chasing Eren also stopped, sizing up Jean. “We only have business with Jaeger. You don’t want to get involved, man,” the leader of the guys said.

 

“I’d beg to differ. He’s my dearest underling and what happens to him concerns me,” Jean answered unphased by the threat.

 

Eren wanted to stop Jean. They were outnumbered two to one if it came to blows. Jean didn’t need to get involved in his shit.

 

“Man, I’m trying to be nice by giving you a choice,” the leader said with a smirk as if trying to make light of the situation. “We have no beef with ya, just Jaeger.”

 

“I’m not deaf,” Jean taunted. “What I’m trying to say is that you boys should leave Jaeger alone. He is not someone you should mess with anymore.”

 

The guys had the audacity to laugh. They found it hilarious that the guy they knew to be a loser was suddenly someone not to mess with it.

 

Jean showed no sign of defeat. No, he smirked right back at the leader. “He is under the protection of the Ackerman family.”

 

That made the guys stop laughing. It took them a moment to comprehend what Jean had said. “You are pulling my leg.”

 

“Nope,” Jean shook his head. “I’m dead serious. If you don’t fuck off you’ll be hunted down by much meaner guys than I am.”

 

The leader hesitated until he made a decision. “Come on guys, let’s go. He’s not worth it.”

 

Eren sighed in relief when the guys left. “Thanks.” He truly meant it.

 

“Don’t mention it.”

 

“Do I even dare to ask where you went?” Eren inquired from the smug looking Jean.

 

“I went to see Marco,” Jean said as if Eren should know who that was.

 

“Who’s Marco?”

 

“He owes money to the family. He asked for a loan and he’s been struggling to pay it back. He offers certain services instead of money whenever he can’t pay the full sum,” Jean explained.

 

Eren stared at Jean, not knowing what on earth he was talking about.

 

Jean rolled his eyes “Sex, Eren, sex! What kind of barrel were you born in?”

 

“I didn’t need to know that,” Eren said. Sex didn’t interest him at all. He didn’t care about people’s sex lives at all. He didn’t want to hear about it either. It didn’t have value to him. “Is that even okay?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“To use sex as means to pay.”

 

Jean cocked an eyebrow at him. “Of course it is! It’s all been settled with the boss. He knows about it if that is what you are worrying about.”

 

“I’m not worried, just asking.”

 

“You keep asking a lot of questions.”

 

“I just want to know. Is that crime?”

 

“No, it’s not.” Jean smirked a moment after and said, “You can always try to settle your debt that way too. Maybe you should ask the boss, hmm?”

 

Jean was obviously teasing him. “Fuck off,” Eren growled at him.

 

Jean just laughed at him.

 

They made their way back to Jean’s car. Jean’s phone dinged the moment they had gotten inside the car. Jean took a look at it and hummed. “You don’t have a phone?” Jean asked Eren.

 

“No. It got ruined when I was thrown into the lake.”

 

Jean chuckled. “Boss says we are going to buy you a new one. Also you need some new clothes he says.”

 

Eren was surprised. “What the hell do I need clothes for?”

 

Jean shrugged. “I quote, I want that hobo look gone by the end of the day,” Jean said.

 

Eren tsk’d in annoyance. “I don’t look like a hobo.”

 

Jean was obviously having fun with this. “We do what the boss says.”

 

Eren rolled his eyes. “I understand the phone but not the clothes,” he protested which was met by deaf ears.


	4. Shopping

 

Eren didn’t think the shopping trip would quite turn out like it did. He expected to spend the minimum amount of time with Jean in the stores. He did need a new phone so he was looking forward to getting one. He didn’t really care what kind of phone he was getting. He just wanted to be able to call and text Armin again. His blond haired friend was probably getting worried when Eren was not answering his phone and ignoring all texts.

 

When they arrived Eren noticed a familiar sleek black car parked at the side of the street. Jean parked in a spot right behind it.

 

Eren thought that maybe one of Levi’s lackeys was here? If that even made sense? Eren groaned just thinking that it was that asshole who had helped him getting his stuff.

 

He followed Jean into a phone store. The store was empty except for four people, the salesclerk, the asshole, the other lackey and Levi. Eren ought to ask the asshole’s name one day. As Eren and Jean entered, Levi turned to look at them.

 

“Eren, pick a phone you want,” was the first thing Levi said.

 

“Huh?” Eren was not sure he heard right.

 

“Pick a phone,” the asshole lackey said annoyed.

 

“Any phone I like?”

 

“Yes,” Levi replied. “It is your phone after all. You know best what you need.”

 

Eren nodded. He had never been given this sort of freedom. He looked through the displays and soon came to a decision that he did not want the most expensive one since he did not need all those fancy features anyway. He wanted something practical.

 

Jean was right there with him, giving unwanted comments about what would be good for him. Eren did not listen to him much. He picked one of the latest models of a decently priced phone that had a nice user interface.

 

“I’ll take this one,” Eren announced.

 

While he had been searching for the right phone, Levi had been setting up everything else he needed.

 

“What kind of connection do you want for your phone, sir?” the clerk asked politely.

 

“Prepaid,” Levi simply said.

 

“And the amount you want it for, sir?”

 

“The highest you can go and proper internet too. The kid is gonna cry if he doesn’t get to play games or some other shit,” Levi said.

 

“Of course, sir,” the clerk started rummaging through his desk, looking for the right kind of prepaid. “And which phone did you pick ,sir?” the clerk asked, directing the question to Eren.

 

“Ah, this one,” Eren replied, pointing to the device he wanted. Eren let Levi’s comments about him slide. It was not probably a good idea to start an argument when he was getting a new phone for free.

 

“Good choice, sir,” the clerk commented with a smile.

 

They finished the deal, Levi paying for all of it.

 

“When you run out of money on your prepaid, just tell Auruo to get you a new one,” Levi said indicating to the asshole goon as they left the shop.

 

Eren nodded. “Okay.” So the asshole’s name was Auruo. Eren expected Levi to leave with Auruo and the other guy but instead they lead Eren and Jean to a clothing shop. The shop was one of the most expensive ones where Eren had never been before. He couldn’t afford anything from a shop like this.

 

As soon as they stepped in there was a very nice young lady ready to help them. “Good morning, gentlemen. How can I help you?”

 

“This hobo needs a new wardrobe,” Levi said pointing his thumb towards Eren.

 

The young woman smiled unfazed by what Levi had said. “Of course, sir. I’m honored to help you find what you need. Shall we start with the shirts?”

 

Jean pushed Eren after Levi who was obviously going to be the judge of everything that they picked. Auruo and the other guy whose name Eren didn’t know yet stayed near the front door, looking bored but their eyes kept scanning the area outside the wide glass windows of the store.

 

“What did you have in mind, sir?” the woman spoke to Levi.

 

“Dress shirts and some wife-beaters,” was Levi’s resolute answer.

 

“Alright.” She nodded and then beckoned Eren over. “What is your size?”

 

“Umm.. I dunno?” Eren said.

 

“Hmm,” she mused, taking her pick on the shirts available. “What about this one?” She put the shirt against Eren’s chest. “Too wide.” She picked another one. “Yes, you are M size. Let’s try this and this. Any color in particular that you’ll want?”

 

Levi answered before Eren had a chance, “Maybe white and gray.”

 

The woman nodded, picking the said colors off the rack. “Okay, then the wife-beaters? White?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Eren stayed silent as the two kept deciding which shirts were his thing. The woman just kept giving him things and then ushering him towards the jeans section.

 

“Jeans?” she simply asked and Levi confirmed her query with a nod. She took a look at Eren’s loose fit jeans that would have looked fine back in the 00’s but not in the present time. Eren looked like a hip hop artist who had gotten run over by time. “Something slimmer I presume,” she commented as she was already going through the jean section. “Come here,” she beckoned Eren over again. This time she did not even ask what his size was.

 

She thrusted a few pairs into Eren’s overflowing hands. “Try those on first. Let’s see if they fit.”

 

Eren was then ushered towards the changing rooms and pushed inside. He laid the clothes down on the bench inside and started taking his own clothes off.

 

While Eren changed clothes, Levi spoke to the woman saying, “Get him some underwear too.”

 

“Boxers or briefs?”

 

“Boxer briefs, black. Oh, and socks too.”

 

The woman smiled and went to get what Levi had requested.

 

Eren emerged from the changing room, clad in a white wife-beater, a gray dress shirt and a pair of slim jeans.

 

Levi shook his head. “You look like a teenage girl in those jeans.”

 

The woman came back and agreed with the statement. “But the size is right?” she asked Eren.

 

“Little too tight around the waist,” Eren answered.

 

“Okay,” the woman acknowledged with a smile. “Wait here. I’ll get you a bigger size.”

 

“Otherwise you look decent for once,” Levi commented. “Try on the white shirt.”

 

Eren did as he was told.

 

Levi shook his head. “No, white is too bright.” Levi looked at the shirt racks, scanning the color options. “Get one of those light brown ones,” he said to Jean who had been hovering about silently the entire time.

 

Eren was back in the changing room, fitting on a new pair of jeans with different cut. This time he looked better than before. The jeans were not too tight either.

 

“Turn around,” Levi commanded. And as soon as Eren was done he said, “Perfect.” Levi directed his next words at the woman, “Get him three pairs of those jeans, two of gray and brown shirts and four white wife-beaters.” Before Eren had the chance to return to the changing room Levi commanded, “Keep those clothes on.”

 

The woman nodded. The boxer briefs and socks were handed to Jean for the time being. They made their way to the cashier. The woman loaded all the clothes into a big bag carefully.

 

When Eren heard the total sum, he felt faint. “Is this going to be added to my debt?” he asked.

 

“You bet it is,” Levi answered paying for the items.

 

They left the shop.

 

Levi said as soon as they were outside, “Eren, you are coming with me.”

 

Eren was surprised because he thought they still had more things to do with Jean but he guessed not.

 

After they had entered the car and drove for a while, Eren realised they left his old clothes back at the store. “What about my old clothes?”

 

“They’ll throw them away,” Levi replied.

 

“But that hoodie was my favourite!” Eren argued.

 

Levi gave him a look. “You need to learn to live without it. We are not going back for some worn out hoodie.”

 

“But--”

 

“It’s just a shirt. Let it go,” Levi’s tone was commanding, leaving no room for further argument.

 

Eren glared at him but didn’t say anything for the rest of the journey home.

 

As soon as they did arrive back at the headquarters that was now Eren’s home, Eren went into his room to set up his phone in peace. He plugged it to a charger and started reading upon the manual to pass the time. He found nothing new he didn’t already know which made the reading rather boring.

 

He laid on his bed, looking at the ceiling. He wanted to call Armin. He needed something familiar right now. He just wanted to talk to someone who actually understood and knew him. Eren wasn’t sure he could do this stupid mission. Everything was fine right now but no one really spoke about their illegal stuff anyway. How was he supposed to find out anything substantial like this? What was it again that Nile wanted to know? Drug deals? Shit about Levi?

 

Eren sighed and turned on his side. Maybe Armin could help him wit this? But then again if he got caught talking about Nile and the mission then it was certain he would be skinned alive. So maybe it was not a good idea.

 

It took maybe an hour for the phone to be fully charged and ready for use. Eren eagerly turned it on and put in the default PIN-code. The first thing he did was change that code to something less obvious. Then he set a screen lock pattern and fingerprint identification as well. Now he just needed some phone numbers. He remembered Armin’s number by heart. They had learned each other’s numbers just in case of an emergency and for the first time it actually came in handy.

 

Eren punched in Armin’s number and pushed call. Then he waited impatiently for his friend to pick up. He hoped Armin would even to his now unknown number.

 

“Armin speaking,” a voice answered on the other end.

 

“Armin!” Eren exclaimed happily. “It’s me, Eren.”

 

“Eren!” Armin replied just as enthusiastically. “I’ve tried to call you like hundreds times but your phone is not on?”

 

Eren sighed in frustration, thinking about his lost phone. “Yeah sorry I dropped my phone in the river. I now got a new one though so save this number as mine.”

 

“Ah.. no wonder. I was really worried when I couldn’t get a hold of you. No one has seen you at school either.”

 

“Yeah I haven’t been going. I got other things to worry about now.”

 

“Oh? Are you in trouble?”

 

Eren hesitated what to say. “Sort of.. everything is under control though so don’t worry.”

 

“Eren,” Armin warned. “You better tell me what on earth you have done now or I’ll swear to god--”

 

“Okay okay!” Eren cried out. “I… I joined the mafia.”

 

“What?! You gotta be kidding me, right?” Armin sounded alarmed.

 

“Nope. It just sort of happened. They think I owe them money from some drug deal which I did not have anything to do with by the way so believe me I’m trying to settle things but it’s not really working out for me.”

 

“Oh my god,” Armin was in disbelief by what he was hearing. “That can’t be true.”

 

“It is! I’ve been trying to straighten things out by saying that I did not steal any drugs but these guys treat me like I did anyway. No one listens to me so I guess I’m … I’m stuck here until they think I’ve paid back what I owe.”

 

“Eren that’s…”

 

“I know. You don’t need to say it. I’m so screwed, don’t think for one second I don’t know that.”

 

“I don’t know what to say..” Armin admitted. “Just you better call me often! I want to know you are alright.”

 

“Of course and I will. I really need someone by my side whom I can trust.”

 

Eren could hear the smile in Armin’s next words, “That goes without saying, idiot.”

 

Eren couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear after hearing that.


	5. The Tour

“Wakey wakey!” Jean’s sing song voice called out as the said young man entered Eren’s room later that evening. “You were not jerking off, were you?”

 

Eren looked at Jean bewildered. “No.” That was an absurd idea.

 

“Good. It’s time for your official tour and introductions,” Jean said.

 

Eren raised an eyebrow. “Okay.” He pocketed his phone and followed Jean out of the room. He had been in the headquarters for a week but Jean had kept him busy all week. Eren had only been moving between his own room and the kitchen to eat. Sometimes he had been in Levi’s office. Otherwise the building was a mystery to him. He knew the most essential places but he had not dared to look into any other rooms in case he stuck his nose into somewhere he shouldn’t have.

 

“You already know some of the places but this place is pretty big and I don’t think you have been introduced to anyone yet?”

 

Eren shook his head. “I haven’t really had the time to go around and learn everyone’s name.”

 

Jean lead him through the hallway. “All these rooms belong to other members like you and me. Some staff members also sleep in this wing.” As they walked Jean drummed on one of the doors. “This one’s mine.”

 

Eren glanced at it and saw a My Little Pony poster on it. He decided not to comment. He didn’t want to know.

 

“So who do you know already?” Jean asked as they reached the end of the hallway.

 

“Umm.. Isabel. She is the cook, right?” Eren had had the pleasure of eating at least one warm meal a day since he had been brought to this building. He had met Isabel who made sure everyone had enough to eat. She had immediately greeted him warmly and welcomed him to the family. Her food was amazing to boot.

 

“Ah yeah,” Jean replied. “Her husband, Farlan, is the Boss’s driver by the way. He is just the nicest guy as well.”

 

Eren nodded. He hadn’t really paid mind to Levi’s driver but at least now he knew who that was.

 

“You already know Auruo and Gunther, right?” Jean asked. “Boss’s bodyguards?”

 

“Auruo yeah. I’ve had the pleasure of doing business with him,” Eren answered his voice full of resentment.

 

Jean laughed. “Auruo is an asshole if you ask me,” Jean said his voice low as if he hoped no one else heard him. “There is also a guy called Eld who is the boss’s advisor. A smart guy. Doesn’t look like much but I hear he is rather good with a knife. The boss trained him himself as well or so they say.”

 

“Boss knows how to fight?”

 

Jean let out a laugh that probably everyone in the building could hear. “Oh my god,” Jean wheezed. “Just wait.. wait a minute..” Jean couldn’t stop laughing. “Hahaha! That was hilarious. Of course Boss can fight. Jesus, you think he’d be still alive by this point if he didn’t know how to defend himself?”

 

“Good point.”

 

“Right.. jesus,” Jean kept breaking into laughter. “I’ll take you to meet Petra.” They came to more spacious area. “Right,” Jean started. “That door on the right is the Boss’s office as you should know by now.”

 

That Eren did know. He had been there before.

 

“The doors next to it lead into a lounge that is meant for people to relax in. Boss in particular likes to use it,” Jean said. “This room on the left is Petra’s office.” Jean knocked on the door and they heard a soft feminine ‘come in’ from the other side.

 

“Hi, I’m showing the new guy around,” Jean said as they entered the cozy office.

 

Petra smiled warmly despite seemingly tired. “Hello. I’m Petra. You must be Eren?”

 

Eren nodded. “Yeah, that’s me.”

 

“Levi mentioned you. Debt is a shitty situation to be in. If you need financial aid, don’t hesitate to ask!” Petra declared brightly.

 

Eren felt like she was mocking him or was she just joking?

 

“Well it was nice seeing you, Petra. I gotta show Eren the dojo.”

 

That got Eren’s attention. “You got a dojo?”

 

Jean snorted. “Of course we do.” Jean pushed Eren out of Petra’s office. “Say bye to Petra, you rude donkey,” Jean reprimanded him.

 

“By Petra,” Eren said to the woman behind her desk. Her waving form vanished behind the closing door. “I’m not a donkey,” Eren protested.

 

“Come on,” Jean said urging him on. “You wanted to see the dojo, remember?”

 

“I’m not a goldfish either,” Eren commented which Jean ignored.

 

They entered a pair of door that lead to the dojo.

 

Jean spread his arms wide, letting Eren take the place in. “Here we are. Pretty neat, ain’t it?”

 

Eren could only nod as he looked around.

 

The dojo was beautiful in Eren’s opinion. Eren had never been to a dojo before. He had always wanted to start a hobby that would take him to a dojo. He wanted to be like the action heroes of old who trained with a master that taught them everything and made them strong. Eren had spent a lot of his childhood watching old movies with his mother until she passed away.

 

The thought of her did not make him as sad as it used to. He missed her of course but he had been so young when she died that there were many things he couldn’t remember about her that he wished he did.

 

“The boss said you could use some training in hand-to-hand combat. I’d say you could start with it tomorrow morning. You could also build up some muscle which will be handy later on,” Jean talked but Eren didn’t really listen after he heard that he’d be training.

 

“In this dojo?”

 

Jean paused with whatever he had been saying. “Yeah. There are always people here early in the morning so I’m sure you’ll find someone who will teach you the basics.”

 

Eren was excited. He couldn’t wait! He realised he felt oddly thrilled to be training with the most dangerous people in town and actually looking forward to it.

 

After the tour Eren was not sure he still understood the layout of the headquarters clearly. Maybe he wouldn’t get lost as easily as he had feared he would. Just maybe this place could feel like a home one day. It had a lot of potential to become so but Eren didn’t know if he wanted to call this place truly his home.

 

* * *

 

 

Next morning Eren woke up at seven a.m. feeling giddy and excited. He could hardly contain himself as he made his way to the dojo. He could already hear noises coming from inside it as he got close. Inside he found three people working up sweat. Eren paused at the door to watch them for a moment before any of them paid any attention to him.

 

“Ah, Eren. Good morning!” Petra greeted him. She was wearing tights and a flattering top. Her rather short hair was on a very small and tight ponytail. She had been sparring with Auruo who looked less annoyed than usual. He kept eyeing Petra’s figure as she was looking at Eren, her hands on her hips.

 

Eren didn’t have any clothes fitting for the occasion so he was wearing a pair of jeans and a wife-beater. The jeans were not going to be very good choice but he made due with what he got. If he had known that he needed something for this he would have asked Levi to get him something appropriate.

 

“Good morning, Petra,” Eren greeted back.

 

“You here for a spar?” she asked cocking her hips to the left.

 

“Spar? I don’t know. Jean told me someone could teach me some hand-to-hand if I came here?”

 

Petra nodded. “Auruo, why don’t you help him?”

 

“Why me?!” Now Auruo looked displeased as always.

 

Petra gave him a look that spoke of disappointment. It made Auruo relent immediately. Auruo cleared his throat. “Of course I’ll help the new guy.” Auruo stepped forward, striking a fighting pose. “Come on, attack me,” he said to Eren.

 

“Now?”

 

“Yes, now,” Auruo snapped little angrily but his face softened a little when he glanced sideways at Petra and saw her disapproving look. “Just come at me like you really wanted to kick my ass.”

 

“Okay,” Eren replied and charged at the older man, trying to punch him in the face. Auruo easily sidestepped him, slapping his arm down and kicking his feet from under him.

 

Eren found him face first on the ground. “Aah fuck,” he groaned.

 

“Try again,” Auruo said a little smugly which made Eren want revenge.

 

Eren got up and attacked again now with a different tactic but the result was the same. Auruo side stepped him again, evading all his attacks like they were nothing. Each of his attack ended up with him on the floor in painful ways.

 

After maybe six or seven times Petra stepped in, “Okay, stop. Eren is not learning a thing if you keep just hitting him down to the ground each time.” She helped Eren up from the ground. “I’ll teach you this time. Auruo, you can go.”

 

Auruo scoffed, “Whatever.”

 

Petra smiled secretly so that Auruo wouldn’t see. “Okay, Eren, let’s start with something simple. Just do as I do.” Petra stepped a few feet away and stroke a fighting pose similar to what Auruo had used.

 

Eren tried to imitate it.

 

“Spread your legs a little more,” Petra said, looking at his imitation critically. “Hands higher. Bend your knees a little.” She moved to correct his pose physically. “If your legs are spread a little then you won’t fall down as easily as you did just now. You keep your balance better.”

 

Eren nodded.

 

“Good good,” Petra said as soon as Eren’s pose was what she wanted. “Next I’ll show you some basic self defense moves. First I’ll show you them slowly and once you know what to do we pick up the pace, okay?”

 

Now that sounded interesting and Eren nodded enthusiastically.

 

“Now watch closely.” Petra did the move really slowly so he could imitate it with her. She kept repeating it and so did Eren. “Good,” she commented. “Now up the speed a little and do it faster and faster each time.”

 

Eren nodded, trying it out and soon he got hang of it.

 

They spent the next hour going through basic defense moves and disarming ones too. Those were something he wished he had known a long time ago but he was happy to know them now, knowing he would need them in the future. Eren felt like he learned a lot without actually having to fight at all. They made plans to continue each morning with more things for Eren to learn.


	6. Erwin Smith

Eren was making his way to the lounge. He had been using it to relax after work when he didn’t want to go to bed yet. The room had a calming effect on him for some reason. He liked it.

 

Eren sighed heavily as he entered the lounge. He was tired after a long day of work. Jean had driven him mad with his yapping and made him do all the hard work. Eren rolled his shoulders, closing his eyes. A cup of tea sounded so heavenly right now. And a massage! Eren moaned out loud at the thought of those two things.

 

“Rough day?”

 

Eren froze, his eyes snapping open. There was a clink of porcelain coming from his left. He turned to see none other than Levi relaxing with a cup of tea on a plate in front of him. Levi’s tie was undone around his neck, his feet shoeless and raised on a settee.

 

“Yeah,” Eren answered not knowing what else to say.

 

“Want some tea?” Levi asked.

 

That was when Eren noticed a teapot and another cup next to it on a nearby table. “Oh yes, please,” he said grateful for the offer and Levi indicated for him to take a cup.

 

With a cup in hand Eren hesitated but Levi moved his legs off the settee, making room for Eren and told him to, “Sit down.”

 

There was no awkward silence like Eren assumed there would be when Levi asked, “Jean keeping you busy?”

 

“Yeah, he makes me do all the dirty work,” Eren outright scoffed.

 

“As expected. I trust him to teach you the things you need to know.”

 

“He has.. I mean he is.”

 

Levi mused what Eren had said for a moment. “You need to understand there is a reason for Jean making you do all those things.”

 

Eren shrugged. “Yeah sure. He enjoys seeing me suffer.”

 

Levi chuckled. “Jean’s a good guy… at heart.”

 

Eren gave it some thought. Seeing Jean that way was easy as soon as he thought of his face after seeing Marco. “I suppose so.” Levi’s next words surprised Eren a little.

 

“I want you and Jean to come with me tomorrow. Some extra muscle would be appreciated.”

 

Eren dared to look at Levi this time. “Ah.. okay. I’m not that muscular though.”

 

“You are enough. You look healthier too. You been eating enough?”

 

Eren was thrown back a bit by Levi’s mother hen attitude towards his health. “Yeah. The food’s good. Isabel is a great cook.”

 

Levi had a soft smile on his lips. “Yes she is. She’s a childhood friend of mine. She even taught me how to cook.”

 

Eren smiled as well. Seeing Levi like this made everything seem so normal. “Why did you become a mafia boss?” Eren had to ask. He quite couldn’t understand why people chose to do things like this for life.

 

Levi chuckled, looking at Eren as if Eren had said something funny. “I didn’t choose. My uncle didn’t have any kids. Apparently he was sterile, no doubt, given the amount of mistress’s he had. There should have been a kid or two popping out of somebody eventually but no so I ended up being the next best choice.”

 

“Just like that?”

 

“No. There was some discord among the family about who should inherit but my uncle set his foot down and practically ordered me to be the next leader. Of course at the time I was just a snotty face kid and could care less about my uncle’s lifestyle or the family. I just wanted to…” Levi trailed off, having a far away look in his eyes. “Anyway, I didn’t want to do it so I rebelled. I got into fights, earned a few scars and got almost killed. That woke me and my uncle up. He gave me the lecture of a lifetime and set me on the path of being the person I am today.”

 

Eren didn’t know what to say to all of that.

 

“Too deep?” Levi asked, putting his teacup away.

 

Eren laughed. “No, just… I didn’t expect that answer.”

 

“Did you think I came out of the womb with my whole life planned out for me?”

 

Eren was quick to reply, “No! I just expected that you would have been wanting to do this.”

 

“I don’t regret my choice but it wasn’t my first choice in life,” Levi explained.

 

Eren was intrigued to hear that. Which was why he had to ask, “What would you do if you were not the boss?”

 

Levi hummed as he gave the question some thought. “I have not thought about such things in years.”

 

“First thing that comes to your mind,” Eren demanded eagerly.

 

After a moment of contemplation Levi answered, “Maybe… a tea shop.”

 

Surprise was evident in Eren’s voice, “Oh… that sounds relaxing.” It truly did.

 

They fell silent and Eren thought about what Levi had told him. It was surprising that Levi had not wanted to be the boss originally. But Eren could easily see Levi sitting behind a counter sipping tea in a small shop. He wondered why that was.

 

“I better head to bed. It was nice talking to you, Eren,” Levi said as he rose up from his seat.

 

“Ah! Goodnight!” Eren said hastily not wanting to appear rude for spacing out.

 

“Goodnight, Eren,” Levi said and then left the lounge.

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning Eren was woken up by Jean once again. “Get up, Boss wants you ready in fifteen minutes.”

 

Eren groaned, rubbing his tired eyes. He felt like he had not gotten enough sleep but glancing at the time he knew he had slept at least eight hours.

 

By the time Eren was ready he saw Levi, Auruo, Gunther, Eld and Jean standing next to the car. Eren felt like he had kept them waiting but no one said anything as they filed into the car one by one. Auruo sat in the front and Eren was forced to squeeze between Jean and Levi. He felt little nervous being so close to Levi. For some reason Gunter and Eld got their own car. Eren felt betrayed by this arrangement.

 

They arrived at a hotel. Eren didn’t know much about hotels. This one looked just like all the others ones. He just followed after everyone else. Why they were here became evident once they entered a room that already had a bunch of people inside. All of them important looking, mafia folk like them.

 

“Levi,” the man sitting on a couch greeted as Levi entered with his entourage. The man rose up to shake Levi’s hand with a smile on his face. He apparently knew Levi well given his relaxed attitude towards the shorter man.

 

Eren found it funny how much shorter Levi was compared to this new person. The man was almost twice as tall, blond haired, blue eyes,  _definitely a ladies man_ , Eren thought. He looked well put together, he had wide shoulders and an air about him that demanded respect, just like Levi.

 

But Eren wouldn’t fret. He knew to be safe with Levi and the rest of the gang.

 

“Erwin,” Levi greeted him back with a curt nod. “Always a pleasure.”

 

Eren noted down the name just in case he ever needed it. This Erwin guy had a similar looking man with him. Obviously a bodyguard since the man didn’t lose to Erwin in height or size. His eyes were hidden under bangs on sand-blond hair and he had a beard that reminded Eren of Nile. There was a mysterious smile on the man’s face which Eren didn’t want to start analyzing.

 

As soon as Levi had sat down on the opposite couch from Erwin, the two men began talking business which for most part went over Eren’s head. He didn’t know enough to even begin to understand what the two were talking about. He understood when it came to money but the places, people, even merchandise were something he had no knowledge of. Apparently, if he understood correctly, Erwin had something to do with real estate business.

 

It sounded boring anyway so Eren tuned them out for most of the conversation. He was tempted to take his phone out of his pocket and playing a game or two of pac-man but he didn’t want to appear rude. No one else were doing anything either, they were seemingly keeping track with what was going on in the room. Even Jean looked like he was interested in the conversation.

 

“Is that all?” Levi finally asked once their business part had been taken care of.

 

Erwin chuckled at Levi, then he eyed at Eren. “Say, how much for the boy?” his eyes returned their gaze to Levi as he spoke.

 

“You better ask him yourself,” Levi replied.

 

“Huh, what?” Eren asked, noticing that the attention had shifted to him.

 

That earned chuckles from both men watching him.

 

“He wants to know your price,” Levi said to Eren.

 

“My price?” Eren was confused.

 

“For spending a night with me,” Erwin told him, looking at him intensely.

 

“Huh?” Eren stared at Erwin like he had lost his head. “No.” Eren shook his head. “No thanks.”

 

“Seems like you have been shot down, Erwin,” Levi said talking to Erwin but keeping his gaze on Eren.

 

ERwin chuckled, not looking that upset about it at all.“So it seems. Where do you find boys like that?”

 

“I just do,” Levi replied curtly. “You could ask Petra if she wants to entertain you again.”

 

Erwin smiled. “I might do that,” he said brushing imaginary dust off his tie. “Well I guess that concludes our business then. It was a pleasure as always,” Erwin said as he rose up from the couch.

 

“The pleasure was all mine,” Levi replied, nodding at Erwin who left with his entourage in tow.

 

“Is Petra a… prostitute?” Eren asked carefully once they were alone.

 

Levi looked at him in silence for a moment. “No, she’s not,” he answered. “She can be with whomever she wants. There has been a few instances where she has taken advantage of her feminine charms.”

 

Eren didn’t quite understand but he replied anyway, “Ah, okay.”

 

“She has never been forced to do it if that’s what you were thinking,” Levi said.

 

Eren shook his head. “I just don’t know her that well that’s all.” Even if he had been seeing her each morning he really knew nothing about her. They hardly ever spoke of personal things while she taught him new moves and ways to defend and attack.

 

“You will.” Levi still made no effort of getting up from the couch. “You could have accepted Erwin’s offer, you know. You could have asked for any sum you’d like. Maybe even shorten your debt significantly,” Levi pointed out.

 

That thought hadn't even crossed Eren’s mind. “Didn’t think of that.” But it didn’t make him regret rejecting the offer, though.

 

“Clearly,” Levi said, getting up from the couch and walking towards the door. Pausing at the doorway Levi added, “Erwin has a good eye.”

 

For a moment it caught Eren off guard. Eren hurried after him, thinking over what Levi had just said. He hardly had the time to do so before they were squeezing into the car once again. The ride home was awkward just like before. But there was one difference this time. Levi placed his hand on Eren’s thigh high enough to be out of sight for the other occupants in the car and let it stay there for the rest of the car ride. Eren didn’t have the guts to brush it off so he let it be.


	7. Gary the Asshole

Jean threw a bag full of money into the trunk of his car and slammed the trunk shut. “Next up is Gary,” Jean said as he sat in the car.

 

Eren just nodded. They had been going around collecting money for the past 3 hours now.

 

“Gary owes us big money,” Jean commented as he shifted the gear to a bigger one, speeding on the streets of the city. “He might be a bit difficult so be prepared for some trouble.”

 

Eren had noticed how some people owed just a handful of cash while others paid a lot more. More money that Eren had ever seen before his life. This had to be due to some sort of illegal activity. The thing was that Jean never spoke of what the money was for. Was it drugs?  _It had to be_ , Eren was sure of it. He couldn’t outright ask about it either. Jean might get too suspicious of him if he did. Jean might not even tell him in the first place.

 

It took five minutes for them to reach the Gary’s place. It was in a four story building on the third floor. Apartment sixteen. The whole building looked like it had been left to erode. The inside did not look any better. What was it with these horrible places everyone lived in? Eren felt more and more grateful at having rather decent life until this point.

 

The door was opened by an older guy. The guy looked like an asshole incarnated. Eren didn’t want anything to do with him. Gary gave him the chills so Eren let Jean handle Gary.

 

“Gary!” Jean greeted the bastard. “It’s time to pay,” Jean said with a sing song tone.

 

Gary didn’t seem pleased to see them. He had a nervous aura about him, making him seem even more suspicious than he already did. “I got your money.”

 

“Yay!” Jean said with fake excitement.

 

Gary got him a blue duffel bag.

 

“There is only half in here,” Jean said after inspecting the contents of the bag that Gary had given him.

 

“That’s all I have,” Gary said shrugging like it was not a big deal.

 

“That is not what we talked about. You gotta pay the full sum,” Jean explained like he was talking to an idiot.

 

“Dude, I tried my best,” Gary said shrugging again.

 

Suddenly Jean pulled out a gun and pushed it against Gary’s temple. Eren had not even known he was carrying one. Jean must have been carrying it concealed.

 

“Where is the rest of the money!” Jean shouted, not fucking around.

 

“I don’t have it! I tried. I honestly tried. I got as much as I could,” Gary pleaded, his eyes full of fear thanks to the gun at his temple.

 

The atmosphere had become tense. Eren took a step back from the duo. He didn’t have any weapon to defend himself if this become a bloodshed when Jean somehow lost his gun. He hoped Gary would listen to Jean. Eren wondered if his training with Petra was going to become handy.

 

“It. isn’t. enough,” Jean growled, clicking the safety off the gun.

 

Gary squealed. “Please, please, I’ll do anything!” Gary screwed his eyes shut in fear.

 

Jean grabbed a hold of the front of Gary’s shirt. “Then pay the fucking money and stop screaming like a little girl about it!”

 

“I’ll have the money by tomorrow! I swear! Give me some time!” Gary was shaking, clearly scared shitless.

 

“You think I’ll buy your bullshit anymore, Gary, huh? You think you’ll always somehow worm your way out of this one, eh?”

 

“No, no, please, I’ll get you the money!” Gary was now crying helplessly like a little kid.

 

“You’d better because when I come by tomorrow, I won’t listen to anymore explanations. I will shoot your kneecaps.”

 

Gary was shaking his head as yes. Jean released him but kept the gun pointed at him. “I swear to god, Gary, if you don’t have the money I will keep my promise and you can say bye bye to your knees,” Jean told him sounding as if his words were sincere.

 

Then they were gone, back to the car and going back to the headquarters. Jean was quiet the whole time.

 

“You stay here. I’ll take the bags to Petra,” Jean said as he parked outside the headquarters.

 

While Jean was gone Eren searched for Nile’s number on the internet and saved it in his phone under a fake name so that no one would know whom he was really calling.

 

He needed to contact Nile so that he could report back to him about his progress. He dialled the number he had found and waited with bated breath for Nile to answer.

 

“Nile Dok,” came a gruff answer once the call was picked up.

 

Eren almost sighed in relief. “It’s Eren,” he said.

 

“Eren, long time no see. How is it going?”

 

“Fine,” Eren said bluntly. “Things are… different but everything is fine. I need to see you.”

 

“Hmm,” Nile hummed on the other end of the line. “Can you come over tomorrow?”

 

“Yeah. I’ll drop by if I get the chance.”

 

“See you tomorrow then,” Nile said before hanging up on Eren.

 

Eren sighed now that the conversation was over. Eren was sort of nervous about tomorrow. He didn’t know what to tell Nile other than what really had happened so far. He was not exactly any closer to finding out about the drugs than he had been when he started. Maybe Nile could give him some advice on how to proceed from here on?

 

* * *

 

 

The next day they went back to see Gary.

 

“Hey, Gary!” Jean called out before they were even inside the apartment. “I hope you remember--” Jean was cut off when the apartment door opened and they were not greeted by Gary.

 

Jean was pulled in by a guy who was huge like a tower. Jean was thrown on the floor and Eren got the same treatment of being dragged into the apartment. The door was shut after them.

 

Gary was standing away from them, smirking victoriously.

 

“Son of a bitch,” Jean growled and he tried to get up but he was kicked in the ribs but a second guy who was just as mean and badass as the first one.

 

Gary had obviously gotten help. Eren doubted he had the money nor was he ever going to pay the full sum anyway. Eren sat up on the floor and for a moment he thought he might be spared but the first guy grabbed hold of his shirt and hit him on the face.

 

The hit hurt like a bitch. Eren was not a stranger to pain but the situation looked bad. Jean was getting beaten up.

 

Gary was laughing. “That’s it, Jean! Karma is a bitch! You come to my home threaten me but then you get beaten up yourself. I fucking love this,” Gary cackled his hands up in the air as he waved them happily, conveying his mirth.

 

Eren was also kicked and slapped again. Eren wasn’t going to take another hit to the face. He used his knowledge of self defense to try and get out of the situation. He managed to fight back, to trip the big goon down to the floor. The guy beating up Jean was surprised by what happened that he looked away from Jean for a moment. That was a grave mistake on his part because in that moment Jean pulled out his gun and shot the motherfucker.

 

Eren was shocked by the loud noise of the gun going off and halted his assault.

 

Jean shot the other goon too before pointing his gun at Gary. “You fucking bastard,” Jean said spitting blood out of his mouth. “I’ll fucking kill you for this.”

 

Gary was looking at Jean his eyes wide. He was speechless.

 

Jean was breathing haggardly. He was coughing up blood. “Where’s the money,” he wheezed out at Gary.

 

“Jean, please I swear--” Gary’s pleading ended when Jean shot him as well.

 

“Fucking asshole,” Jean grunted before he fainted.

 

“Jean!” Eren cried out and hurried to Jean’s side. Jean was out cold. Eren suspected he might have broken ribs. Eren panicked not knowing what to do. He couldn’t call an ambulance, could he? He took his phone and looked for Auruo’s number.

 

Auruo answered on the third ring.

 

_“What the fuck do you want?” came the gruff answer._

 

Eren breathed hard. “Jean is unconscious. He is bleeding. I don’t know what to do,” Eren rambled.

 

_“Wait wait, where are you.”_

 

“At Gary’s. I don’t know who that is. We are in the East district,” Eren didn’t know what else to tell. He hadn’t noted down the actual address.

 

_“Okay, I know the place. I’ll be there in five.”_

 

“Hurry!” Eren pleaded and then the line went dead.

 

The five minutes went by fast. Eren heard a knock on the door and as he hurried to open it. He was happy to see Auruo with Gunther on the other side of the door.

 

Auruo pushed Eren out of the way and took a look at the scene in the apartment as he walked over to Jean. “Gunther, let’s get him up.”

 

Eren let Gunther past him too. Eren stepped outside of the apartment into the hallway. He was feeling shaken. He moved to be out of the way when Auruo and Gunther helped Jean up to his feet and out of the mess altogether. They dragged Jean to the elevator and Eren opted to take the stairs.

 

They met at the front doors which Eren kept open for them. He hoped that Jean was going to be alright.

 

Just as they were leaving Eren saw a police car turning to the same street. Obviously someone had called the cops because of the gunshots. Eren was glad they were out of there before the cops could put two and two together.

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey, Eren,” Gunther called out, coming up the young man who was at the moment trying to eat something.

 

Eren wasn’t particularly hungry at the moment.

 

“Boss asked to see you,” Gunther told Eren.

 

Eren just nodded and headed towards Levi’s office. He knocked on the door and heard Levi tell him to enter.

 

“I heard from Auruo what happened at Gary’s. He said there were three bodies. One of them being Gary himself. Jean shot them?” Levi asked once Eren was in his office. Levi rose up, walked up to the young man.

 

“Yes, sir,” Eren replied, following Levi’s movements with his eyes.

 

Levi stopped in front of him, an arm's length away. “Do you know who the two men were? Did they say anything?”

 

Eren shook his head no. “They didn’t say anything. Just started to beat us up.”

 

Levi nodded, looking pensive.

 

“How’s Jean?” Eren asked since Eren didn’t know what had happened to Jean after they had gotten back to the headquarters. Auruo had told him to get lost.

 

“Jean’s fine. He’s getting treated. He will survive thanks to you. You did good, kid,” Levi said sounding almost gentle.

 

Eren visibly relaxed hearing that. “Thank god. I was sure he was going to die. I was sure we both were.”

 

Levi was looking at him, his gaze moving around Eren’s face. “You don’t look so pretty. Did you have yourself looked at?” He raised his fingers to grace Eren’s features, trying not to apply any pressure on his injures face.

 

Eren hadn’t even bothered to think about his own injuries. “I feel fine,” he said feeling the sting of bruises on his body.

 

“Don’t make me order you to do it, Eren,” Levi said softly but Eren didn’t move. “Get yourself looked at, now,” Levi’s tone was commanding this time.

 

“Yes, sir,” Eren answered and left to get help for his bruises. He doubted he had anything worse than that.


	8. Nile Dok

After the scare of yesterday, Eren remembered that he was supposed to see Nile. He took the chance to go and see him now that he was free to do what he wanted for the time being. Levi had told him to take a few days off from work and get over the shock of people getting killed.

 

So Eren made his way to the police station where Nile worked. At the front desk he asked to see Nile and was granted access when the receptionist called Nile to check if it was okay to let him through.

 

“You didn’t show up yesterday,” Nile stated as soon as Eren closed the door to his office.

 

“Yeah..” Eren said and took a seat. He was still worried over Jean. “Something came up,” he answered simply. If almost being beat up and possibly even shot was ‘something’.

 

“You could have let me know.”

 

“It hardly crossed my mind. Sorry,” Eren said already getting annoyed by Nile’s attitude.

 

Nile let it go after giving him a stern and disapproving look. “So tell me everything. How have things been progressing during these few weeks?”

 

Eren sighed. Where to start? “I’ve been doing all kinds of odd jobs. I got some dude training me how to do stuff and I’m getting to know people. Everything is almost too normal. I’ve not seen any drugs yet, though. Or they have not given me any jobs that had to deal with them.”

Eren hoped his explanation was good enough. “We’ve collected debts. I think they are because of the drugs.”

 

Nile was silent for a long and nerve wrecking moment. “So you have hardly cracked the surface?” Nile asked calmly.

 

“Yeah. I can’t exactly go and demand them to give me drugs to deal.” Eren shrugged nonchalantly.

 

There was an eerie silence.

 

“That is not good enough!” Nile suddenly shouted, slamming his palm down on his desk as he stood up in rage. “You need to get close to Levi! Not play house with some subordinates!”

 

“How do you suppose I do that!?” Eren shouted back. He partially understood Nile’s ire but what could he have done differently?

 

“You need to make him trust you! Suck his dick for all I care, just make it happen!”

 

“When?! I almost never see him and I’m working all day!” Eren shouted in anger.

 

“Then make the time!”

 

They fell into a rage filled silence. They stared at each other eyes sparkling with anger. It took a whole minute for them to calm down enough to resume talking.

 

“Just do something,” Nile growled. “It is very important that you succeed in this. We can get rid of the most dangerous mafia in the whole city if you do your job well.”

 

“I know,” Eren snapped back. “But it ain’t easy. I just can’t go and start demanding they give me things to do. It doesn’t work that way. If I step out of line, they are sure to kill me. They don’t actually need me. You do realise that, don’t you?”

 

Nile sighed and picked up a pen to idly roll it between his fingers. “Yes I do understand. You need to find a way to worm your way into the inner circle. To get information out of Levi and his lackeys. Ask around but be subtle about it,” Nile told him as advice.

 

“I’ll try,” Eren said, not believing in himself. He wasn’t very good at being subtle.

 

* * *

 

 

Eren laid on his bed, doing nothing in particular. He was pondering about how he was supposed to get Levi spill information. He couldn’t exactly ask directly so how was he supposed to ask?

 

He remembered Nile’s suggestion and rolled his eyes.  _“Suck his dick for all I care.”_ As if he could do that.

 

But then nothing else popped into his head so he started to think about it seriously.

 

Eren bit his lip as he browsed his phone. He couldn't believe that he was considering of doing this. So if his plan of attack was to seduce Levi he would have to offer himself up to the man but first he needed to find out about what sex between men really meant. He had heard a lot of jokes about homos and such things but he had no idea what the reality was.

 

He typed in the search field ‘how to have gay sex’ which brought up results which he did not know which to choose so he started on the top. He noticed that lesbian sex was included so he limited his search to ‘anal sex’. It couldn’t be so different between men and women, right?

 

He searched through quite a few sites until he found something that was actually really informative on the subject. He tried a few more searches to make sure he had all the right information. He even ran into a few forums that people discussed things. Those clarified some things for him. Eren had spent several hours reading up on the subject.

 

He was more than happy to see that the sex could be painless if done right. ‘If’ was the keyword here. It would depend on his partner’s knowledge how everything turned out. Eren was struck with a thought, could he step up and tell Levi if he was doing it wrong? Would Levi even respect him that much in the first place?

 

Those thoughts were scary. Things could go horribly wrong. Maybe it would have been better if he had not looked it up at all? He was scared of what awaited him.

 

But he felt better if he made sure he knew what he was doing. Which was why he next searched for online sex shops. Maybe if he practised a little then he’d be better lover? Eren felt foolish looking through sex toys for anal sex. He didn’t know what all of them did and what difference they made.

 

If only he could even get one of them…

 

* * *

 

 

“Petra.. can I ask you for a favour?” Eren asked the next morning at the fighting practise they were having.

 

“Oh,” she sounded surprised. “Do you need help with something?”

 

Eren was a little embarrassed to ask but, “Could you loan me some money?”

 

Petra pursued her lips. “How much?”

 

“About fifty bucks?” he asked carefully. He didn’t dare ask anymore than he actually needed.

 

“Oh,” she was surprised again. “So little amount? Of course I’ll give it to you.”

 

Eren sighed in relief. “Thank you,” he bowed to her in gratitude.

 

“It’s fine. You pay me back once you can.” She laughed waving her hand dismissively.

 

Eren laughed nervously. He didn’t know when that would be. But he would pay her back in smaller amounts of that was what it took.

 

After their training session Petra gave him the cash but added another two bills to it. “Buy yourself some real workout clothes while you’re at it.”

 

“Thank you, so much!” Eren thanked her again causing her to smile once more.

 

* * *

 

 

There was a knock on Eren’s door. “Eren!”

 

The young man in question was still asleep and woke up to the second time his name was screamed through the door.

 

“Hmm?” he opened the door, his hair was a mess and he could hardly keep his eyes open.

 

Auruo scoffed at him, “Get dressed. Boss wants to see you.”

 

Eren nodded still feeling sleepy. He checked the time and saw that it was nine in the morning. He did as he was told and put some clothes on. He made his way to Levi’s office to hear what Levi wanted this morning.

 

Eren knocked and waited to be invited inside. His invite came as, “Come in.”

 

“You wanted to see me, sir?” Eren asked.

 

“I have a job for you,” Levi said, putting down a piece of paper he had been reading. “Since Jean is still out of commision you have to go alone.”

 

Eren was excited to hear that. He hadn’t been given anything to do all by himself yet. “I’ll do it, sir.”

 

“It’s a one man job so you should have no problem,” Levi said. “I need you to deliver a package.” Levi held out a piece of paper.

 

Eren hurried to take it and listened intently when Levi started to give him directions.

 

“Ask for Maurice. Don’t give the package to anyone else. If Maurice refuses to pay, just come back and tell Auruo about it. He’ll take care of it.”

 

Eren looked at the information written on the paper and nodded. Seemed simple enough.

 

“Since you can’t drive, Farlan will take you,” Levi told him. “The package is already in the car.”

 

As promised, there was a car waiting for Eren. Farlan was Levi’s personal chauffeur. Eren had never actually spoken to the man but he couldn’t be a bad guy since Isabel, the cook, had married him.

 

Farlan waited for him, opening the car door as if Eren was an important person. Eren couldn’t but thank the man automatically. He felt out of place inside the fancy car all by himself.

 

Farlan rounded the car and sat down behind the wheel. He gave Eren a small smile via the rearview mirror.

 

Eren smiled back awkwardly. The drive took about ten minutes. He didn’t see the package that he was supposed to be delivering. Eren looked around but there was no clues about its whereabouts. Once Farlan seemed to be pulling over, Eren asked, “Umm.. where is the package?”

 

Farlan reached over to the passenger seat and handed Eren a small brown rectangle package.

 

Eren took it and it was lighter than he expected. He tucked it inside his hoodie for safe keeping purposes. Who knew what it contained and how important it really was. The amount of money he had been collecting with Jean were larger sums than Eren had ever seen in his life so this could be just as valuable. He needed to be careful.

 

“Thanks,” he told Farlan who didn’t respond nor did Eren stay in to wait for one. He checked the address Levi had written down and saw the apartment building right in front of him. He was not surprised to see a house that needed some love. The paint was peeling off the concrete walls. A few windows were broken and graffiti filled the once light green walls.

 

Eren made his way inside, double checking the number of the apartment. He heard noises coming from various parts of the building but couldn’t make out any distinctive sounds. He climbed to the second floor and found his destination. The door was ajar and there were people inside. Faint music played in the background, some sort of punk music if Eren was right. He didn’t recognize the band but he had heard the song before.

 

The place was a mess. Eren crept into the apartment, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of trouble. He came to what was a living room, filled with three worn leather couches. The people in the room just glanced at him but didn’t react to him. There were four people in total in the room. One couch was empty. On one couch was a couple who was making out happily, they both giggled murmuring something to each other between kisses.

 

On the other couch was a guy who was staring up to the ceiling. His gaze was unfocused and he had a goofy smile on his face. Next to the couch stood a girl around Eren’s age. She had blond hair and rather bored expression on her face but she was looking at the guy on the couch. As if she was making sure he was okay.

 

She was the one Eren decided to talk to. “Umm, I’m looking for Maurice?” he asked.

 

The blond girl looked at him, giving his form a full sweep from head to toe. “I’ll go tell him,” she answered and walked into what looked like to be a corridor.

 

Eren took careful steps into the room and sat down on the empty couch. The happy couple kept giggling and kissing. Eren looked at the for a moment, and wondered how on earth they could be so happy. Then he looked at the guy who was sitting on the couch opposite to the couple. Then it clicked. They were high!

 

Eren started to have an idea what the package was hiding inside.

 

The girl came back alone. “He’ll be here in a minute,” she said and just right next to Eren. She didn’t give him a chance to move away as she leaned right into him.

 

Eren was surprised and didn’t know how to react. He was forced to lean against the couch while she was leaning against his side, placing her hand on his thigh.

 

“We could have fun while we wait,” she said, her voice softer than before.

 

First thing that came to Eren’s mind was to reject her and tell her that, “I’m involved with someone.”

 

“I won’t tell anyone,” she promised, moving her hand higher up on his thigh.

 

Eren grabbed hold of her wrist. His mind was going crazy with the situation. He needed an excuse! Levi’s face flashed in his mind. “My lover is someone you don’t want to mess with,” he told her hoping she would take the hint.

 

She paused, looking at him. “Who were you affiliated with again?”

 

“The Ackermans.”

 

“Oh,” she reacted. “Fair enough,” she said finally. She stayed silent for a moment as she gave him some room to breath. She took her hand off his thigh and placed it on his arm. She stayed close though. “Many would kill to be in your position.”

 

Eren cocked his head to the side.

 

“Of course, assuming that your lover is in a high position within the Ackermans,” she added.

 

“You could say that,” Eren continued his lie. It seemed to be better he lied to her to escape her advantages.

 

Her eyes flashed as if she had figured out something. “Don’t tell me you are banging the head mofo?” she whispered.

 

“Levi?” Eren asked and she nodded. “And what if I was?”

 

“Then I’m jealous. Good for you, though.”

 

Their conversation was interrupted by guy appeared from the corridor to the room. “I’m Maurice,” he said looking at Eren. “I hear you were asking for me.”

 

“Yeah, I got something for you from Levi,” Eren replied and got up from the couch.

 

“Alright, come with me,” Maurice said, leading the way down the corridor to the last room in the back of it.

 

The room Maurice lead him was just as dirty as the rest of the apartment. There was cigarettes littered on the floor, spilled from a plastic bag by the bed. A jar filled with cigarette buds sat on the dresser next to it. Clothes were all over the place, the bed looked like no one had changed the sheets in years and the walls were filled with pictures cut from magazines and newspapers.  

 

Maurice went to the dresser and took an envelope out of it. Eren took the package out of his hoodie and they exchanged them between themselves.

 

Maurice opened the package and affirmed the contents of it with an accepting nod of his head. “Tell Levi that it is always a pleasure to do business with him.”


	9. Seduction

Tonight Eren was going to finally do it. He would hopefully seduce Levi and attain information he so desperately needed. He had to believe that Levi would be open to sharing things once Eren gained his trust.

 

Eren put on the silk robe and tied it. It felt lovely against his bare skin. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He looked at himself in the mirror. He messed up his hair a little bit but not too much. He didn’t want to seem desperate. He needed to look sexy if anything else.

 

He knew Levi’s schedule by now. He had made sure of it. Eren needed another deep breath to stop shaking.

 

“You can do this,” he said to his reflection which he stared for a moment. “Okay, here we go,” he said before sighing and relaxing his shoulders. He left his room and made his way to the lounge.

 

And without a doubt Levi was there, sipping his evening tea and reading some papers.

 

Eren made his way over to him and bit his lower lip as he struck up a casual pose just a feet away from where Levi was sitting.

 

Levi raised his eyes from the papers and looked at Eren’s form from head to toe and then back up again. His eyes went back to the papers. “You want some tea?” Levi asked sipping his own as if nothing out of ordinary was happening.

 

Eren undid the robe, letting it drop on the floor and stood there in all his naked glory.

 

The teacup in Levi’s hand stopped midway to Levi’s mouth. Levi’s eyes raked across Eren’s naked body again. Levi seemed to contemplate what to do before he put the cup and the papers away on the table next him.

 

Eren took this as a positive sign and so he took a step closer. There was no going back now, Eren knew that. He reached out and touched Levi’s shoulder tentatively.

 

Levi reached out to touch him as well, his hands touching Eren’s hips. Eren went as far as touch the back of Levi’s head which seemed to be okay with the man.

 

Eren had never been this close to another man without meaning to punch him. Not naked anyway.

 

Eren’s mind went blank. What was he supposed to do now?

 

Levi’s gaze fell from Eren’s eyes to Eren’s lips. “If you become my lover I will have all of you or nothing. You are mine and no one else’s. Only mine,” he said it with an undertone that made Eren gulp. It was clearly a warning.

 

“Okay,” Eren agreed not thinking too much into it. He could do this. He was supposed to do this. He’d be safe. Levi would keep him as his.

 

He boldly moved to straddle Levi’s lap.

 

Levi’s arms circled his waist, holding Eren securely in his arms. “I’ll assume you know what happens if you betray me,” his tone was low and dangerous. It didn’t leave anything up to question.

 

Eren placed his hands on Levi’s shoulders for better balance. “Of course,” he answered lightly as Levi’s arms tightened around his waist.

 

“Good,” Levi said, placing a kiss on Eren’s neck, making the young man shiver.

 

Eren was scared. He didn’t know what any of this meant. His research upon the matter didn’t really prepare him for the real thing. He let Levi take the lead. He was sure Levi knew what to do. Or he hoped so.

 

Levi kissed Eren’s neck a few more times, trailing his way up to Eren’s mouth.

 

Eren took a deep breath as Levi kissed him. He had never been kissed before, letting Levi take all of his firsts seemed scary enough already but he had no choice. Eren kissed him back clumsily but Levi didn’t seem to mind it at all.

 

“Relax,” Levi whispered between kisses, “Let me kiss you.”

 

And Eren tried to do as he was told. He couldn’t relax all the way but he did his best. He let Levi kiss him, finding it an odd sensation. Emotionally Eren didn’t feel much of anything when their lips were touching. He didn’t see what the big deal about kissing was but it wasn’t disgusting either.

 

Levi’s hands roamed his body with gentle caresses that left goosebumps on Eren’s skin. When Levi brushed over his sides Eren broke the kiss to gasp, “That tickles.”

 

“I’m sorry. I won’t do that again,” Levi apologised sounding both sincere in his own monotone way. “We better take this somewhere private.”

 

“Oh,” Eren moved away from Levi’s lap. He felt kind of silly for trying to seduce him here.

 

Levi was faster due to Eren’s nervousness to pick up the robe Eren had worn. “Put this on. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to give others a show.”

 

“Oh, right,” Eren said awkwardly. This was it, wasn’t it? He was pulled against the mafia boss’ side and then guided through the hallways to Levi’s bedroom. The feeling of Levi’s hand on his hip was a foreign one. They reached the room without seeing anyone else. Which was not surprising how late it was. That was why Eren had chosen this time of the day, knowing that others were probably sleeping and that Levi was not busy with anything anymore.

 

Eren hadn’t been here before but he didn’t feel like enjoying the decor right now.

 

Levi stepped away from him once the door was closed behind them. “Make yourself comfortable,” Levi said starting to opening the first buttons of his shirt as Levi walked further in the room.

 

Eren made his way to the bed, sitting down on it nervously. He watched as Levi moved around the room, taking his clothes off, putting them away with care. Apparently Levi was in no hurry whatsoever.

 

That made Eren doubt himself. He looked down at his feet. Had he made a mistake? What if Levi would tell him to get lost, losing his interest and the whole thing would wither away.

 

“I thought I told you to get comfortable,” Levi suddenly commented an arm length away from him.

 

“Aah.. I..” Eren stammered in surprise. Levi was standing there completely nude. Eren hadn’t realized just how fit the guy was. Eren felt ashamed of his skinny build suddenly. There was no way in hell that he looked attractive to Levi.

 

Levi touched Eren’s head, running his fingers through his longish hair. His fingers trailed down to Eren’s cheek and down under his jaw.

 

“You do not need to fear with me,” Levi said and Eren realized he must be looking scared.

 

“I’m not--” Eren started to say but his lips were sealed in a sudden kiss. As he was being kissed, Levi pushed the robe off his shoulders. Eren let it fall off his arms, leaving him naked once more.

 

Then Levi pushed Eren down on the bed, kissing him more passionately than before. He climbed over the young man’s form, his hand cupping Eren’s cheek gently before slipping behind Eren’s head.

 

Eren let himself being kissed thoroughly. Levi kissed his way down to his neck. Eren turned his head to the side to give him better access. Levi’s fingers rubbed the back of his neck. Eren tried to relax but it wasn’t easy.

 

Levi’s mouth travelled down on his torso. He kissed Eren’s nipples next and Eren learned that it actually felt good when Levi did that. Eren had touched them when he had been learning things about his body and had found out that his nipples made him feel good when stimulated. He had not expected Levi to suck on them though and it was a pleasant surprise.

 

Levi’s hand brushed along Eren’s ribs and the young man jumped a little. “Aah! I told you I was ticklish,” Eren said before thinking it through. He held his breath as Levi paused.

 

“My bad,” the mafia boss apologised and made sure not to touch Eren’s sides again like that.

 

Eren relaxed as he realised that Levi was not going to tell him to suck it up. Eren didn’t linger on the matter as Levi took his cock in his hand carefully. For a moment Levi moved his hand why kissing Eren’s hip but then Levi said, “Show me how you like to masturbate.”

 

Eren’s ears burned as he took hold of his own cock. He looked away from Levi, not daring to see if the man was watching him. Of course Levi was, who was he kidding? But Eren didn’t need to see it to feel embarrassed all over.

 

After a minute Levi said, “Let me.” He did what Eren had done but put more care into it.

 

It felt so different to have someone else touch him the way Eren liked. Yet, he still couldn’t look at Levi doing it. When it started to actually feel good, his hand shot up to touch Levi’s shoulder. “Oh sorry,” Eren apologised as he peeled his fingers off Levi’s shoulder.

 

Levi caught Eren’s retreating hand and brought it to touch his face. “You are allowed to touch me,” he told Eren.

 

Eren put his hand back on Levi’s shoulder and looked away. He couldn’t bare staring at the man whose was jerking him off.

 

“Does it feel good?” Levi asked.

 

“Ah, yes,” Eren hurried to answer and realised he answered a little too fast. “I mean yeah,” he corrected himself sheepishly.

 

“Good,” was the blunt answer Eren received back before Levi moved, hoisting Eren’s leg over his shoulder.

 

Eren yelped embarrassing himself by the sudden movement. Was Levi going to just get on with it without preparation?! Eren had a small panic moment before he noticed Levi reach for something over on the other side of the bed. To his relief Eren saw a bottle of lube in Levi’s hands.

 

Eren hadn’t even noticed that Levi had placed it there but then again he had been distracted with mulling over his life choices before Levi had joined him on the bed.

 

_Now is the time to relax Eren,_ the young man thought to himself as he saw Levi coating his fingers with the lube. Eren wasn’t exactly new to fingering. He had tried it of course when he self educated himself about anal sex. Back in his room he had a box of condoms and a dildo that he had used to get used to the feeling of having something inside his ass.

 

Eren was little anxious about the amount of preparation that Levi would do. What if the man just lubed him up and then stuck his cock in? So feeling antsy Eren took in the first finger of Levi’s.

 

All his worries were alleviated as time passed on since Levi obviously knew what he was doing preparing him properly and Eren was able to relax more and more as time went by. Eren concluded that this was the unsexiest of times ever. Here he was lying down, guy’s fingers up his ass. Levi didn’t try to talk to him.

 

But the situation wasn’t a total mood killer when Levi curled his fingers and rubbed his prostate. Eren couldn’t help himself but let out little squeaks. He was mortified at first and then Levi continued to jerk his cock as well and Eren closed his eyes. He didn’t care anymore if he made embarrassing sounds because the combination of the two stimulating acts were enough to make him forget why he should be embarrassed.

 

Eren reached one of the best orgasms he had ever had and the tension in his body was gone. He was catching his breath afterwards, realising just what he had done. The embarrassment was back full force but Levi was having none if it.

 

The man pulled his fingers out of Eren’s ass and leaned over his, careful not to touch anything with his lubed fingers. He gave Eren a kiss. “No time to be embarrassed,” he told Eren. “The fun is not over yet.”

 

Levi moved back and pushed his fingers back into Eren, moving them a lot more this time as if checking if Eren was ready. When his fingers moved without much of resistance in and out Levi pulled them out and reached for what turned out be a condom. Putting it on and lubing over it, Levi was ready to take Eren’s virginity.

 

Technically Eren was not a virgin since he had been playing with a dildo for some time now alone in his room. Still he felt a little nervous having someone so close. It was easy to fall into a fantasy when he was alone but now that Levi would be there with him, he couldn’t just close his eyes and dream up some scenario.

 

The stretch was not a new sensation for Eren. But it was the first time he had something warm inside him. It felt a little better than a cool dildo. Eren was not so conscious about the dick but of Levi otherwise. Having his leg over Levi’s shoulder and the man pushing in, leaning over him was the strangest part.

 

Was he supposed to look at Levi while they did this? Was he supposed to act like those porn stars he had seen on the videos he had watched while educating himself?

 

At least he didn’t need to talk to the man because Levi kissed him. Eren gave his all to kissing the man. Eren held him close, not letting him go. His leg had moved off Levi’s shoulder, Eren wrapped it around the man’s waist. He did so with his other leg too to get into a better position.

 

Levi’s lips left Eren’s after a heated make out session. Eren turned his head to the side when Levi nuzzled the side of his head. Levi sucked on the sensitive skin of his neck, kissing and biting gently.

 

Eren noticed the moment Levi started to move. It felt odd not to be the one deciding the pace. But it did feel good, Levi’s cock moved over his prostate, making it a pleasant feeling for him too. Eren wasn’t quite recovered from his earlier orgams yet but he was close to being so. He ignored his own cock for the moment as he focused on Levi. He wanted, no he needed, the man to want him again. Eren moved his fingers into the man’s hair, giving it a gentle tug. His other hand was around Levi, he let his nails travel on Levi’s skin on purpose, letting the man think he was feeling much more pleasure than he truly was.

 

Levi’s hand found Eren’s cock, touching it and making Eren moan as his cock sprang back into life. It took less time than before to get him fully hard. His massaged prostate contributing to the cause the most.

 

Eren had watched a lot of gay porn but he had not been able to imagine what it would actually be like to have sex with someone. The whole situation was more intimate than he had imagined. Levi moved again to kiss him on the lips, starting with the corner of Eren’s mouth as he waited for the young man to turn his head back towards his.

 

Eren was kissed deeply as Levi thrusted into him just as passionately. The power behind Levi’s thrusts was unbelievable. Eren felt as if Levi was still holding back though, not wanting to be too rough with him.

 

Gathering his courage to say something Eren voiced his request, “Harder.”

 

And oh boy, Levi complied making Eren lose his mind. Now Eren truly sank his nails into the man’s back as he arched his back. Levi had stopped touching his cock in favour of pounding Eren into the mattress but it didn’t matter. Eren was in heaven.

 

Eren was completely taken in by the pleasure and he didn’t even realise that he moaned loudly when he came the second time that night.

 

In the haze he felt afterwards he completely missed the moment Levi reached his peak. Eren was focused on the overstimulation he felt and his closed eyes might have something to do with it too. He’d later remember distantly hearing some sort of moan coming out Levi as well.

 

Eren didn’t get any sleep that night. He was unable to fall asleep afterwards. Eren turned on his side to face Levi. Eren laid there, watching the man sleep who was his lover now. Levi looked so young when he was asleep, his face relaxed and unguarded. Things hadn’t gone the way Eren had expected.

 

What Eren had expected was Levi to just take him, not care what he felt about it. Eren had steeled himself towards that outcome. He had not believed for a moment that Levi would be so gentle. His fears had not come true. Eren was so glad. The sex had not been bad. He had actually felt good which was not something he had counted on at all. This deal wasn’t so bad after all.


	10. Moving forward

Eren didn’t know what the time was when Levi stirred. Eren quickly closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. He heard Levi sigh and get up from the bed. Eren simply laid there, trying to breath heavily and slowly to imitate sleep so Levi wouldn’t get suspicious.

 

Eren felt a little silly doing it, though. Levi didn’t even try to wake him up. Eren heard him close a door and soon he heard the shower running. Apparently the man had his own personal bathroom. Eren didn’t dwell on that as he listened to the sound of running water and splashes coming from the bathroom. He wondered if he could take a shower too before he left.

 

Eren kept still, not moving from his position when Levi came from the bathroom and dressed himself. When he finally left the room, Eren opened his eyes and saw that he was alone.

 

He did not feel tired even after staying up all night. He didn’t see any clocks anywhere so he could only guess that it was probably early. He doubted that Levi got up as late as he did normally at nine a.m.

 

Eren opted to stay a while longer. Then he would sneak back into his room, hopefully no one would see him walking around in the robe. Maybe he should leave right now to avoid walking into anyone else. He debated the choice for about two minutes and then he got up with sigh. He found his robe right next to the bed. Slipping it on he left the room as quietly as he could. He looked out for anyone else but he didn’t even hear any other noises than what he made himself.

 

He crept through the hallways towards his own room and breathed out a sigh of relief when he got into his own room without been seen.

 

“Good morning sunshine!”

 

Eren screamed. He clutched the front of his robe as his heart raced. “Jean, for fuck’s sake,” he cursed out loud.

 

“I came to talk to you last night but you weren’t here.”

 

“You didn’t wait for me all night, did you?”

 

“Oh no. I came back about five minutes ago.”

 

“I was taking a shit,” Eren lied.

 

“Yeah right. The hickey on your neck says otherwise.”

 

Eren slapped his hand on his neck automatically. The triumphant look on Jean’s face made him grimace. “It’s none of your business,” Eren growled at Jean and walked across the room to fetch some clean clothes.

 

“Of course mister grumpy pants,” Jean taunted him.

 

Eren flipped him off which caused Jean to laugh at him but ended up wincing in pain.

 

Eren wasn’t going to strip while Jean watched though. “Would you mind?” he asked because Jean didn’t seem to be leaving any time soon.

 

“I came to talk to you, remember?” Jean said, shifting from one foot to the other.

 

Eren sighed. “What is it? Are you even fit to move around?” he asked when he noticed Jean’s pained expression.

 

“Yeah, they let me out. My ribs are taped though. I’m fine but I’ll stay put a few more weeks. I don’t wanna risk of getting kicked again,” Jean joked a little. “I’m more concerned how my little apprentice is faring. You having any trouble while I’m gone?”

 

“Not really,” Eren said, throwing the clothes he had on his hand on his bed. He took his towel, deciding to take the damn shower instead. “I’ve done a few things that Levi gave me to do. Nothing too hard.”

 

“Good good.” Jean nodded. “I really should get back to bed. I haven’t taken my morning meds yet.”

 

Eren walked after Jean towards the door of his room but then Jean stopped on hsi tracks. “Did you take on my advice?”

 

“What advice?” Eren asked confused.

 

The two-toned bastard smirked. “About fucking Levi.”

 

Eren smacked him on the shoulder without thinking, making Jean wince again. “Sorry!” Eren exclaimed quickly.

 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Jean wheezed out.

 

“Get out of my room, Jean,” Eren commanded.

 

* * *

 

 

Eren was a little bit nervous to see Levi after the night they spent together. But he’d rather go and get something to do than loiter around. So he headed for Levi’s office room. He knocked on the door but there was no answer. Either Levi was busy or there was no one in. So Eren waited for a minute or two before knocking again. When there was no answer he gave up and went to get some food.

 

Isabel was out cleaning the dinner table. “Eren!” she greeted enthusiastically. “You want breakfast?”

 

Eren answered, “Yeah, please.”

 

Isabel smiled brightly. “What would ya like? I could make eggs?”

 

“Sounds good.”

 

Isabel folded the rag she had been cleaning the table with. “Coming right up!” She disappeared to the kitchen, leaving Eren to choose a place to sit.

 

In about ten minutes she came back with steaming plate filled with eggs. She placed it in front of him with a smile. “Here you go,” she said. Instead of going back into the kitchen she picked a seat across him. “You look tired,” she said after observing him for less than ten seconds.

 

“I didn’t get much sleep last night,” Eren told her being truthful. She just didn’t need to know the reason why.

 

“Ah. Eat your stomach full and maybe you’ll get sleepy, hmm?” she suggested.

 

Eren nodded as he dug into the delicious eggs. He didn’t understand what she put into them to make them taste so good.

 

“Big bro came in earlier and told me to prepare a fancy dinner. Some important folk are coming in,” she told him. She called Levi ‘Big bro’ for some reason. Eren had not asked why. It was not important to know. Eren doubted they were actually siblings. They were nothing alike.

 

Isabel enthusiastically explained what she had planned for dinner. Eren listened politely even though he had no idea what half of the stuff she mentioned even was. Some fancy shit he had not heard of before.

 

“I’m sure it’ll be delicious,” Eren commented. “No matter what you make.”

 

Isabel smiled brightly. “Thanks.”

 

After finishing his breakfast Eren bid farewell to Isabel. She always made good food no matter what it was. Her talking had made him wish he would get served such a grand dinner too.

 

Eren tried again to see Levi and this time the door was ajar. He heard talking coming from inside. He crept closer just to hear if it was something important that he could report back to Nile.

 

“Send them to the docks,” was the first thing Eren heard Levi say.

 

That sounded promising in itself if it turned out to be about drugs.

 

“It’s easier that way so Rico’s men won’t bother us again,” Levi continued.

 

Then a voice that probably belonged to Eld said, “They have been snooping around. Obviously they are trying to intercept the cargo somehow.”

 

Levi spoke calmly, “We can’t use our usual routes for this deal. There is a chance that they succeed. We can’t trust it to stay a secret for long. Someone might talk.”

 

“What has this world gone to that we cannot trust our own men?” Eld wondered.

 

“People are getting too greedy and forgetting the importance of the family. It will be good riddance to weed them out.”

 

Eren listened intently. He didn’t know there was any discord within the mafia family. This could be important! He continued to listen in silence.

 

Eld spoke up next, “The deal is too important to screw up. If Rico manages to intercept it we could lose business for several years to come.”

 

Levi hummed agreeing with Eld. “We need to set up a trap for Rico. We could ask her to assist with the deal. Tell her we need man power to run things smoothly. She could have her share of the money we make depending on her involvement.”

 

“I could set it all up,” Eld offered.

 

“Make it so.”

 

That seemed to be the end of the conversation. Eren realised that Eld could walk out any moment. He took a few quiet steps backwards and then took regular steps as if he was just arriving on the scene. He poked his head into the room, knocking on the door. “Sir, do you have a moment?” he asked seeing Eld already walking towards the door.

 

Levi nodded and invited the young man into his office, “Come in, Eren.”

 

Eld passed Eren when he walked fully into the room. “I was wondering if there was anything for me to do?” Eren asked trying to hide the fact that he had been eavesdropping for several minutes.

 

“You’ve seen Jean?” Levi asked when they were alone. Eld had closed the door behind him.

 

“Yeah, he came to visit me this morning,” Eren told truthfully. That damn two-toned horseface had scared the living shit out of him though.

 

“He is fine,” Levi deemed Jean fit to be up and about just by having that piece of information.

 

But Eren didn’t think so. “He said he’d be in bed rest for few more weeks apparently.” Jean had seemed fine but clearly he was in pain and needed the rest.

 

“In that case, you get more work,” Levi told him not arguing with him.

 

Eren was pleased to hear that. He wanted to be more involved. If it would make Levi trust him more and more then he’d do anything. He told that to Levi too, “Anything for you, sir.”

 

“I’m glad you are enthusiastic but remember to be careful so you won’t end up like Jean,” Levi warned him.

 

“I’ll be careful. I promise,” Eren said, letting the excitement in his voice to be heard edging a little closer to Levi’s desk. He suddenly became aware of what he was doing and halted. He hesitated for a second before, taking the last steps to reach Levi’s desk. He leaned on it a little, letting his tone drop lower, “I wouldn’t do anything reckless, you know.” Eren had a feeling that Levi’s worry of him was not just normal worry or his subordinates.

 

Levi looked at him, tilting his head to the side a little as he regarded the now smirking young man. “You little shit better not or I’ll show no mercy.”

 

“Don’t make a promise like that,” Eren teased, seeing an opportunity that he couldn’t pass.

 

Levi drew in a deep breath and something flashed in his eyes. “You want the job or not?” Levi asked sternly not taking the bait.

 

Eren smirked, knowing that he had the bad-ass mafia boss right where he wanted him.

 

Wrapped around his little finger.

 

* * *

 

 

Eren hummed happily as he threw the money bag on the back seat. Farlan was driving him around again. The places he needed to be were too far apart for him to do it on foot, plus the amount of money he was collecting was too much to just carry around the city in a duffel bag.

 

He took the money to Petra as soon as he was back at the headquarters. Then he went to see Levi again. The boss was sitting in his office, probably not left it during the whole time that Eren was gone. There was a pile of some papers on Levi’s desk and Eren found it sort of funny that the mafia boss would do paper work himself when he had subordinates to delegate it to.

 

Levi spoke to him without a greeting, “Tonight there will be a dinner. I’ve invited the Brzenskas to discuss an important deal that could bring both sides a lot of profit,” Levi explained. “I want you to be there as well.”

 

“Me?” Eren asked surprised. He didn’t know anything about the Brzenskas than that they were merciless. It made them rather unknown mafia too. Brzenskas’ reputation was not a good one. People were scared of them. There was more rumours going around the streets of the city than any actual facts. Eren was antsy for a reason.

 

“You’ve never met a Brzenska?” Levi asked and Eren wondered why he would ask such a thing.

 

“Not that I know of,” Eren answered confused.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

Why was Levi asking him this? Was Levi interrogating him? “Yeah?” Eren wasn’t sure if that was the right answer.

 

Levi stared at him for a moment as if searching for a lie. “You have met two of them. Both of them now dead after Jean shot them.”

 

“Oh,” was all Eren could say. But why was Levi inviting them to dinner if Jean had killed two of their men?

 

Levi saw the troubled look on Eren’s face and made a guess, saying, “They were doing what Gary had paid them to do. It is why I’m inviting them here. We need to settle things between our families because of the incident.”

 

That sounded dangerous. Eren didn’t want to say anything that would probably sound stupid. He trusted Levi had gone through these sort of things before, right? People got killed every day in this world.

 

It was going to be alright, right?

 


	11. The Deal

The dinner with the Brzenkas had Eren feeling nervous. What if they wanted to take revenge on them for killing two of their men? It was a possibility given their reputation of killing people who crossed them. Eren was worried it would be a certain thing to happen.

 

He was dressing himself up but he had no formal wear so he figured it would be okay to wear whatever Levi had bought him to wear everyday. 

 

As long as they were clean had to be enough.

 

It was Auruo who came to get him from his room that evening. “Come on, Boss wants everyone ready to greet the Brzenskas Boss.”

 

Eren didn’t hesitate to go with Auruo. The air buzzed with weird energy as they entered Levi’s office. Eld was already there, standing behind Levi on his left side and talking with Levi quietly. Auruo went to stand on the right side and motioned Eren to join him there.

 

The situation felt formal and had Eren standing his back straight as they obviously waited for their guests to arrive.

 

Gunther soon arrived with a small entourage of people that Eren assumed were the Brzenskas.

 

They were angry looking bunch of people. No smiles were exchanged between the two groups.

 

“Levi,” a woman with gray hair said, stepping forward. “You’re still alive and kicking I see.”

 

“Good to see you too, Rico,” Levi said, getting up from his seat.

 

“Oh please,” the woman drawled. “You don’t need to lie to my face. You are quivering in your boots because you don’t know if I’ll want to kill you or not.”

 

Levi chuckled not seeming nervous or scared at all. “I should hope you are in mood for some negotiations.”

 

“Depends on what you have to offer.”

 

“Let’s talk about it over the dinner I promised,” Levi said to her and Rico nodded.

 

“I never say no to free food.”

 

Levi walked from behind his desk to Rico. “Let me lead the way then,” he said.

 

Eren was one of the last people leaving the room towards the dining room. Rico and Levi had smalltalk along the way but Eren couldn’t quite hear what they were saying to each other.

 

“Eren, sit with me,” Levi ordered.

 

Eren had assumed he would be sitting somewhere else but now he was being directed by Levi to sit on Levi’s left side. Eld was already sitting on Levi’s right side. Rest of the guys sat wherever they could.

 

As soon as they were seated, Isabel came into the room with several others who started making sure everyone had their drinks. Isabel then explained briefly what was for dinner. It still went over Eren’s head but he was sure it would be delicious nonetheless.

 

“So spit out your idea to settle you killing two of my men,” Rico said when wine and water were being served and Isabel had gone back to the kitchen.

 

Levi relaxed in his chair, leaning back and looking at Rico. “I’d like to offer you a share in a drug deal that will be one of the biggest deals we are handling this year.”

 

Eren’s ears perked up with the words ‘drug deal’. Now this was the shit he had come here for.

 

“How much?” Rico asked bluntly.

 

Levi glanced at Eld who had a folder with him. Eld picked a paper out of it and slipped it across the table to Rico.

 

She looked at his adjusting her glasses on her nose. “Per family?” she asked not looking up from the paper.

 

“Yes,” Levi confirmed.

 

“Hmm,” she hummed as she contemplated the deal. “I’ll assume that you’ll want our help with this.” This time she looked at Levi, dropping the paper on the table.

 

“If you want to help it would be appreciated. The man power would be a great help.”

 

Rico mulled it over. “I’ll accept,” she said. “But if something goes wrong this time…” she trailed off leaving out the threat.

 

Levi raised his hands up. “I’ll take full responsibility,” he promised. “I hope this deal is enough to settle the score between us,” he added. Levi put his hands down, placing his left hand on Eren’s thigh.

 

Just to be bold, Eren placed his own hand over Levi’s. 

 

“It might if I get the money, that is,” Rico responded not sounding impressed at all.

 

“You will,” Levi promised. He squeezed Eren’s thigh, offering Rico a small reassuring smile. “No need to worry about that. Money is not something I kid about.”

 

Eren curled his fingers around Levi’s hand. Oh boy, how he knew from experience that Levi did not kid about money. 

 

The group around Eren started to have smalltalk once the dinner was served a few minutes later. Rico and Levi kept talking about other families that lived in the city. They didn’t reveal any business secrets but spoke gossip.

 

After the dinner Rico was obviously happy with the meal and the deal they had struck.

 

“It was a pleasure, Levi,” Rico said and smiled just as little as Levi did.

 

“The pleasure was all mine, Rico,” Levi answered, shaking Rico’s hand. Gunther and Auruo lead the Brzenskas out, making sure they got out and into their car. Basically making sure they did not go snooping around as much as it was out of courtesy.

 

“Let’s celebrate this joyous occasion,” Levi said to Eren his voice low and little hurried. He grabbed hold of Eren’s arm and dragged the young man out of the dining room. Eren had little choice but to follow.

 

The celebration was not Eren’s idea of what celebration was supposed to be. Levi had practically dragged him to his bedroom and then proceeded to plow him into the mattress. 

 

Eren had a feeling anyone close enough to the bedroom could hear his cries of pleasure.

 

It was that night that Eren found out he liked rough sex. He especially liked that his hair was pulled when he was being fucked from behind.

 

* * *

 

 

Eren was sitting in a chair in Nile’s office at three o’clock on the next Monday. “They are planning something big with the Brzenkas. There is going to be a big drug deal that the Ackermans need their help with. I don’t know the details when and where yet but with the way things are going, I probably will hear about it sooner or later,” Eren told Nile with upbeat voice, hoping that this was going to make Nile happy.

 

To his relief Nile smiled. “That’s my boy!” the detective exclaimed. “This will be it, Eren. You must get all the possible info you can and send me frequent reports. You can send me text messages. I won’t answer them and you need to delete them as soon as you have send them so you won’t get caught. Understood?” Nile cautioned him.

 

Eren nodded, knowing he had to be careful with this or it would mean the end of his life. The time to finish his job had finally came.

 

“I’ll need to give you a gun,” Nile said. “But it wouldn’t be wise just yet. You don’t want to be caught carrying one until the time comes.”

 

Eren was little scared about the prospect of using a gun for the first time in his life. He wasn’t sure if he could use one. He told as much to Nile, “I haven’t used one before.”

 

“It’s not hard,” Nile told him. “I can take you to the shooting range so you know just what to do with Levi.”

 

Eren gulped uncertainty flooding his mind for a moment. “Yeah, I’d like that,” he said nodding.

 

* * *

 

 

Eren continued running his jobs, while waiting for Jean to get better. Jean visited him once in a while, clearly not wanting to stay put. 

 

While waiting for Jean meant spending more and more time waking up in Levi’s bedroom but Eren didn’t mind that. He actually enjoyed the sex much more than he thought he would. Levi was gentle with him, making sure that each time they both enjoyed it. Eren secretly loved the little nothings Levi whispered to him when they were laying in bed, languid after sex.

 

Jean kept pestering him about his relationship with Levi which Eren denied several times but Jean was adamant he had figured it all out. Eren did not give Jean any conclusive answer about what he was doing with Levi.

 

It was none of Jean’s business if Eren was fucking their boss or not. He had not talked about it with Levi yet. Were they even supposed to keep it between themselves? Not that it mattered to Eren what others thought of him or them but the knowledge that he was with Levi would give him a barrier between himself and everyone else.

 

But still Eren did not want to fuel Jean’s assumptions out of spite.

 

For the next month Eren kept listening into Levi’s conversations with his men and he did ask about the deal when he was in bed with Levi. The mafia boss told him some little things that Eren managed to relay to Nile.

 

What Eren couldn’t find out from Levi beforehand was the time of the deal happening. He had to eavesdropped behind the doors of Levi’s office to learn when the deal was going to happen.

 

“Make sure everything is ready for tonight. I don’t want anything to go wrong. This deal is too huge for us to screw up,” Levi said to Auruo who looked serious as ever.

 

“Of course, boss. You can count on us,” he said, departing with Gunther on his heels.

 

Eren slipped away from the door, knowing Auruo and Gunther could emerge through it any moment. Eren casually walked away and pretended to look through his phone with keen interest when Levi also exited the room through the door.

 

“Eren, I need you to do something for me,” Levi said, making the young man pause his insincere retreat. Auruo and Gunther walked passed him.

 

Eren cocked his head to the side. “Anything,” he replied bluntly.

 

“There is a message I need you to deliver. It is important that no one else knows about this,” Levi said with seriousness that made Eren sober up a little from his nervousness.

 

“Okay.”

 

“I want you to go to Rico and tell her that the deal is happening tonight. I want you to tell her personally. She knows to expect you.”

 

Eren nodded. “Alright, sounds easy enough.”

 

Levi’s gaze softened a little. “Be careful. Some of Rico’s men are not as nice as they look.”

 

“I know,” Eren smirked knowingly.

 

“Good. Get going,” Levi ordered him before walking pass Eren.

 

Eren put his phone away, making his way out of the headquarters. He knew the fastest way to Rico’s place but he took a small detour to make a phone call.

 

“It’s going to happen tonight,” Eren said into the phone with a hushed tone. He didn’t want anyone to overhear him. 

 

_ “Then it’s time, my boy. It’s payday,”  _ Nile said back.

 

Eren swallowed, feeling nervous and excited at the same time. He was going to be free. All of this would end tonight.

 

_ “If you do your job that is,” _ Nile added.

 

“Of course.”

 

_ “You got the gun?” _

 

“Yes.” Eren licked his lips taking a deep breath as he ghosted his hand over the spot under his clothes where he had hidden the gun. Nile had given him a gun a week earlier so that once the time came Eren would be ready to kill the mafia boss.

 

_ “Good. Then we are all set. You do your part and the money is yours, Eren,”  _ Nile said before hanging up.

 

Eren pocketed his phone after clearing his call history. Finally he would get the money to save Mikasa. He couldn’t wait to see her again. He had wanted to go see her all this time but he never did. He didn’t want anyone to know about her. He didn’t want to put her in danger just because he visited her and bad people followed him. He had succeeded in that.

 

He saw Levi exit the building, obviously going somewhere and that gave Eren more than enough time to do one thing. With quick steps he made his way towards Levi’s bedroom. He made sure no one saw him slip inside, closing the door behind him as quietly as he could

 

Eren walked over to the bed he had occupied so many times in the past months. Carefully making sure not to disturb the bedding, he hid the gun under one of the pillows.


	12. Tonight You’ll Be Gone

 

When Levi came back Eren crashed his lips against Levi’s the moment he saw him. If the mafia boss was taken by a surprise he didn’t show it. Eren kissed him hard and deep. He didn’t give Levi much of a choice to say anything. “Bedroom, now,” Eren commanded passionately, hoping Levi would listen to him.

 

Levi listened to him, leading the way as Eren stayed by his side literally, working himself up for what he had to do.

 

Once they were inside the bedroom, Eren spun around in Levi’s arms and kissed him passionately. He tugged Levi with him to the bed. He pushed the shorter man on the bed and bounced on him like a predator catching its prey.

 

Levi was on board with him, kissing him back, running his hands on Eren’s body with familiarity that almost made Eren weep.

 

Eren gasped when Levi ripped his shirt in half. The buttons flew across the room but Eren had no time to wonder about that as Levi kissed his neck, pulling him into his arms tightly. Levi’s passion was burning him. Eren wanted to forget what he was supposed to do and give into the warmth of his lover.

 

He put his hand under the pillow, feeling the cold metal of the gun against his hand. He pushed against Levi’s chest with his other hand and rose up to a sitting position. He pulled his hand from under the pillow at the same time, aiming the gun at Levi’s face.

 

They both froze, panting from the passion that they had shown just a moment ago.

 

It should have been easy to pull the trigger but Eren’s finger didn’t move. He had seen people die right before his eyes. He had not felt anything for the poor bastards but now his hand trembled at the thought of pressing down the trigger that would steal Levi’s life.

 

“How much did he offer you for my head, Eren?”

 

Levi’s question threw Eren off. His eyes widened, his hand trembled. “What are you talking about?” The gun in his hand trembled slightly.

 

“We both know what. How much?”

 

Eren contemplated that Levi might have found out about Nile. “Five hundred thousand,” he answered truthfully. It wouldn’t matter if Levi understood what he meant. Levi would be dead soon.

 

“I’m insulted.” Levi smirked. “I bet he promised you half of the money he is supposedly going to confiscate at the crime scene, huh?”

 

Eren nodded, still holding the gun.

 

“You have been lied to, Eren. He will make millions.”

 

Eren’s heart skipped a beat. “You are lying,” he hissed, not believing what he was being told.

 

“Am I? He has kept you in the dark. The deal is worth thirty million but it actually doesn’t matter because Nile is not going to get any of it.”

 

“What do you mean?” Eren asked, his hand was shaking as he tried to determine if Levi was telling the truth.

 

“The information that I gave you about the deal was false. Nile is on his way to his own death and so are the Brzenskas too. We staged a little accident for them.”

 

“No!” Eren cried out, pushing the gun harshly against Levi’s jaw. “You can’t do that! I need the money!”

 

Levi looked at him for a moment, letting the young man get a grip of his emotions. “Did you hate it?”

 

“Hate what?” Eren knew by now that Levi was just trying to by some time. Levi was trying to confuse him on purpose!

 

“Being with me.”

 

“What does that have to do with anything?”

 

“Answer me,” Levi demanded without real aggression in his voice.

 

Eren closed his eyes unable to gaze into the soft gray. “No,” he answered after a moment. He could hardly breath. Emotion was getting best of him. His eyes prickled with tears. His throat felt like closing in on itself.

 

“Eren,” the mafia boss said softly. “If you want to be with me, you can. Nothing has changed.” Levi had every opportunity to take the gun while Eren’s eyes were closed but he didn’t.

 

“But.. my sister.. if I don’t get the money..” Eren choked out.

 

“Your sister is fine.”

 

Eren opened his eyes wide in a flash. “What? How?”

 

“The moment I saw you I made my people learn everything there was to learn about you. They research your whole life for me. When you became mine I made sure Mikasa had the best treatment possible. She is going to recover.”

 

Eren stared at Levi unbelieving. “You are lying,” he said again but this time his voice had no bite.

 

“I’m not,” Levi assured him. “We can go see her any day you like.”

 

“But the bills--”

 

“Everything is taken care of, don’t worry about any of it.”

 

Everything came to a stop. All of this was in vain. He had no reason to kill Levi anymore. Mikasa would be fine. “How can I pay back?” Eren was desperate even after hearing that Mikasa was going to be fine. Would he be forever in debt to Levi?

 

“You don’t have to.”

 

“But this whole time I’ve been--”

 

“I lied. You never had any debt to repay me. I was selfish and wanted to have a reason to keep you near me so I lied. I’m sorry.”

 

Eren was shocked. What was he supposed to believe? Levi kept throwing things at him that he had never thought could be true. Mikasa being fine, Nile deceiving him like this, what else was there?

 

“Eren,” Levi said his tone still soft. “Stay with me. You can have everything you want if you stay with me. Please.”

 

Eren’s heart couldn’t take anymore surprises. Levi never said please to anyone. Never. This was the first time Eren had heard him say it. “Don’t..” he pleaded. His hold on the gun faltered.

 

“Put the gun away. I’m glad to die by your hand if you still wish to kill me but let me have you one more time before you do it.”

 

Eren gasped, his fingers loose around the piece of metal. “I.. I don’t want to kill you,” he admitted.

 

“I know,” Levi assured him. “I can see it in your eyes.”

 

Eren’s shoulder shook and a sob escaped past his lips. The gun slipped from his hand as he raised his hands to cover his face. He cried.

 

Levi took the gun and put it aside. He let the young man cry for a moment, letting him get it out of his system. “I have to say that it took you some balls to shove that thing to my face in the first place. I’m proud of you.”

 

Eren still sobbed but his sobs were lessening.

 

“I’ll have to be more careful from now on when you are eager to have me in bed. Never know if you are just trying to kill me.”

 

Eren couldn’t help it, he laughed through his tears. “That’s terrible.” He meant the joke. He coughed a few times choking on his own saliva.

 

Levi smiled up at him. “There we go. Feeling better?”

 

Eren didn’t dare to look him in the eye but he nodded. He needed a moment to gather his thoughts.

 

Nile was going to die. Not that Eren cared about that now that he knew Mikasa would be fine. But there was something he didn’t understand. “Why the Brzenskas too?”

 

“Because they need to pay for touching you,” Levi said.

 

“So you killed them for it?” Eren asked little scared but aroused too.

 

“Yes. They were so few in number that taking care of the whole family was pretty easy. They will never touch you or anyone else again,” Levi said to him, his gaze caressing Eren’s face. “Are you hiding more weapons somewhere or can I have my way with you now?”

 

Eren protested, “Maybe we shouldn’t--” But it was cut short by the man beneath him pulling him into a kiss.

 

“We should,” Levi said leaving no room for complaint. After a deep kiss Levi asked quietly, “Will you stay with me?”

 

Levi sounded so genuine that Eren started crying again. He couldn’t answer for a brief moment which Levi took advantage of.

 

“I realise there is nothing keeping you here anymore,” Levi said softly. “I’m asking for selfish reasons.”

 

Eren drew in breath through his teeth. “Can’t you just say you love me?”

 

“Will that make you stay?”

 

“Of course.”

 

Levi’s gaze softened and a small smile appeared on his lips. Before he pulled Eren into another kiss he said, “I love you, Eren.”

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Cissy made some art for this fic but her computer is getting fixed at the moment. I'll add links later.  
> You can [follow me on Tumblr if you want to](http://daktasinsanity.tumblr.com/) . I do warn you though. I reblog trash. A lot of stupid things.


End file.
